The Bet
by BerLina
Summary: Rick and Kate make a bet of a pretty ...interesting nature. WARNING: SMUT! Established Caskett. Multi-chapter, because I like to torture you. Enjoy!
1. Day 1

_This story takes place in an Alternative Established Caskett Universe where Kate and Rick have been living together for a while_._ I don't think I will write about how they got together in this one. That's really not the point of this story._

_Warning: This story is smutty! If you are not comfortable with that (or not yet) - turn around and leave NOW!  
>For all the others: Welcome to my smut-and-tease-fest! This just came to me out of nowhere. I hope it has at least some class. I try to be tasteful.<em>

_Also: This is NOT the Ignition sequel that I promised. It's in the works, though! Remember; if you have any wishes concerning that, leave a review or PM me!_

_Anyway, I hope you will all enjoy this. Let the teasing begin!_

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><p><strong>DAY 1<strong>

"That was…" Rick trailed off, still out of breath.

"Yeah," Kate agreed, her sweaty body sprawled on the sheets next to him.

"God I love you so much" he said and pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder.

She chuckled. "Don't I know it, Mr. Castle."

She rolled over and snuggled into his embrace, feeling his chest rise and fall and his heart thunder beneath her hand. He released a very audible breath and she laughed.

"What?" he asked.

"You sound as if you just ran a marathon!" she teased. She took in his ruffled hair and flushed cheeks. "You look like it, too."

He sighed and pulled her closer. "What can I say, Miss Beckett. You wore me out. But in my defense, I bet we just had enough sex to last us a whole year."

A corner of her mouth twitched and betrayed her otherwise perfectly blank face. "Can there ever be 'enough' sex, Mr. Castle?"

His eyes lit up and he turned his upper body towards her on the bed. "There was this one time in college when…"

Kate shut him up with a firm hand across his opened mouth. "Besides, I wouldn't want to bet on that. You couldn't possibly keep your hands off of me for that long…"

"Me?" he asked mock-innocently. "Are you talking about me? Really? Clearly you are the nymphomaniac in this relationsh…"

"Nymphomaniac! Oh, no! Now you're pushing it! The bet is on!" she declared, a challenging gleam in her eyes that he was eager to match, their faces just inches apart. A different kind of passion was now captured in the air between them.

"If we were to go without sex for a longer period of time, you would be the first to break" Kate dared him, an evil grin etched into her beautiful features.

"Oh, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into. I bet 50 bucks that I can outlast you by a week!" he countered.

She arched an eyebrow teasingly. "First of all, I find that hard to believe. You're not exactly known for being Mr. Celibacy and from what I've experienced in the last ten months or so, you are going to lose that bet."

Rick opened his mouth to respond, but Kate raised a finger to his lips in the international signal for 'shut up I'm not done yet'.

"Secondly, you cannot 'outlast' me unless - in the highly unlikely case that I break first - you would rather I sleep with some other guy."

His face fell. "Right" he said, his eyes wide as saucers at the thought of that. "So how are we going to determine who wins?"

They both thought quietly for a second.

"No kisses" Kate determined. Rick's head shot up at that.

"No kisses?" he questioned, almost pleadingly.

She smiled at him and nodded her head. "No kisses."

He pouted. "But kisses are not sex! No kisses at all? I mean, not even…"

"Okay, if you keep your mouth shut" she gave in and rolled her eyes.

"As in…?"

"As in 'hello - see you later - good night'-kind of kisses!" she explained. "Absolutely no tongue!"

"What about cheeks?" he queried and she sighed.

"Kisses on cheeks are exceptions, but no other body parts."

"Forehead?"

"Alright, forehead too."

"Neck?" he asked, his head already angling towards her exposed neck, deliciously bare for him to taste, right under his nose…

"No!" she declared, stopping his body's motion towards her with a firm hand to his chest.

"Why not?" he begged, lips so cutely pouted that she almost kissed him on instinct. Instead she rolled her eyes once more.

"Because kisses on necks are romantic and sexual kind of kisses" she explained impatiently.

"Do I get a last kiss before we officially start this?" he wanted to know, his sparkling blue eyes pleading with her. She leaned into him and let her tongue run along her lips, intending on teasing him. His eyes darkened and his lips parted slightly. He could feel her hot breath on them and inhaled the luscious smell of her skin.

"No" she whispered, but leaned closer still despite her words. He let one finger trail down the curve of her neck and she couldn't suppress the shiver even though she really tried. "This doesn't count" he whispered back and finally closed the distance.

His lips worked hers gently, tenderly until he sucked her bottom lips into his mouth and let his tongue glide over it. Suddenly she was kissing back furiously, their open mouths clashing and colliding, his tongue sliding over hers. He swallowed her helpless moan as her hands found the back of his neck, holding on to him, pressing her pert nipples more firmly into his chest. They savored the moment, fully aware that they had just vowed to live without this for a while. Rick tried to commit the taste of her to his memory, already wanting to call off the bet before they had even started it.

With a last slide of her tongue against the roof of his mouth and a small bite to his top lip, she pulled away. They both took a couple of deep breaths and then Kate got right back to business.

"Whoever gives in first and isn't able to keep their hands or lips off of the other, apart from those exceptions we just mentioned, loses the bet. Now to the most important part…"

"Wasn't that the most important part?" he asked seriously.

She shook her head and worried her kiss-swollen bottom lip between her teeth. "What are the stakes?"

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><p><strong>AN:** _This is not a 'build your own story' kind of fic, but I haven't actually decided what they are playing for yet. So if you leave a review and tell me what you think should be the winner's prize (besides honor), I will definitely consider it and possibly work it into the story!_

_Lina_


	2. Day 1: The Stakes

**A/N:** _I am so grateful for your support, you guys are all amazing! Thank you so much for all the story alerts and favorites and the ton of reviews, it is truly appreciated. You make me happy :)_

_I know this chapter is kind of on the short side, but I promise from now on it will get better._  
><em>Please enjoy!<em>

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><p>„The stakes?" he echoed.<p>

„Yes, the stakes. What do I get when I win?" She rolled away from his body and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

"_If_ you win" he corrected and reached for the sheets to cover himself. After the exhausting wakeup call he had just received, he was ready to go right back to sleep. She saw him cuddle back into the mattress and went around the bed to pull the sheets away from him.

"Nu-uh, you're not going back to sleep, it's already past ten. Besides, we're not done yet."

He looked up at her with pleading eyes, astonished that she managed to look intimidating even in the aftermath of a night (and morning) of hot sex, glaring down at him butt-naked and with rosy cheeks.

"How about I buy you an Island in the Caribbean if I lose?" he suggested, but she shook her head.

"It wouldn't even be a punishment, you'd be happy to do that" she accused him and he had to acknowledge that she spoke the truth.

"Does it have to be a punishment?" Rick wanted to know as she turned around and searched the drawers for something to wear. She pulled out some plain cotton underwear and turned her head to look at him.

"Of course there has to be a punishment, otherwise there's nothing holding you back and you'd be all over me by six o'clock tonight." She stepped into her panties and he craned his head to take one last longing glance at her backside. Even in cotton she looked spectacular. He blinked the thought away.

A grin spread on his face. "How about I wear a dress and shave my eyebrows?"

Although he couldn't see her face, he knew that she was rolling her eyes at him. She turned to him when she had fastened her bra.

"You already shaved your eyebrows a month ago when you lost that poker round; they only just started to grow back. And I'm sure nobody, including me, wants to see you in a dress" she concluded and sat down on the edge of the bed. He pulled himself to a sitting position and she laughed in his face when his back cracked.

"It's not funny" he muttered and absentmindedly played with the sheets that were covering his lower body. She gave one last dismissive snort.

"Rick, this is not going to work if we chose our own punishments. You are only going to chose things that you'll actually enjoy. In fact," she said and touched a hand to his stubbly eyebrows, "I'm fairly sure that you lost that poker game on purpose…"

He shyly smiled at her and she gave him her brightest grin in return. Before the urge to kiss him could grow, she pulled away and jumped up from the bed.

"Let's do it like this" she suggested and grabbed her pants from where they sat neatly folded on a chair by the bathroom door. "I can determine what your punishment will be if I win..." Kate started and pulled her zipper up. She walked towards the other end of the room. "...and you can rack your brains over what to do with me should I lose. How does that sound?" she called with her head in the closet.

He reluctantly swung his legs to the side and sat up, knowing that she wouldn't let him sleep for longer. "Oh, I know exactly what I'll do with you once this bet is over…" he muttered and stood up while she looked for a shirt. She pulled a green one over her head and when she reappeared from the fabric, he was suddenly in front of her.

"What if I'm an old man before one of us loses?" he asked and stepped even closer, ignoring the fact that she was fully clothed while he was still completely naked.

She smirked up at him. "You're already old" she teased and he grumbled something unintelligible. He'd walked right into that one. She took pity on him and leaned up to give him a quick peck on the cheek.

"It's not going to happen, Rick. I'm sure by the end of the month I'll be fucking your brains out again" she said and smiled innocently. His mouth opened, but there were no words coming out. She patted his cheek sweetly and turned around, walking out on him with an extra sway to her hips, whistling a naïve tune.

She was knowing full well the extent of the torture she was putting him through.


	3. Days 6 and 7: Temptation

**A/N:** _I'm so happy about all the support this story has gotten so far! I'll reply to your reviews soon, I haven't had the time yet... But I promise I'm going to eventually respond!_  
><em>I love all the suggestions you guys are making. Keep doing it, I'm getting very inspired.<em>

_This chapter for example was inspired by 4evercaskett. Thanks very much for the great idea! ;)_

_This chapter also includes some swear words, so be warned. But then I guess that swearing is the last thing I should worry about..._

_See for yourself! I hope you'll enjoy!_

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><p><strong><span>DAY 6<span>**

The first week went by in the blink of an eye. They were caught up in a double homicide that left little room for any kind of personal moments. Usually they fell into bed and were out like a light the moment they got home.

When they caught the killer early on Friday, they were presented with the prospect of an afternoon spent outside the precinct. Rick went home right after the confession, saying that he needed to run some errands. Esposito laughed and yelled a joke about "The Real Housewives of Manhattan" at his retreating back.

Kate was left to do the paperwork without someone constantly staring at her. She didn't mind.

At about 4 o'clock the Captain kicked her out, telling her to enjoy the weekend and not come back until Monday unless more than 3 bodies dropped – that's how many other homicide teams they had on call. She accepted gratefully, collected her belongings and drove home.

It had been about half a year since she'd moved in with the Castles, but somehow the loft had already been "home" to her earlier. Alexis had actually giggled at Kate when the "moving day" had arrived and all she had to carry into the apartment was a medium sized box – everything else had already been there. She'd taken none of her furniture with her, because there had been no need (or place) for yet another couch or closet.

As Kate rode the elevator up to their floor, she thought that it had never been furniture or belongings that made the loft "home", but rather the people living there.

The grueling case had taken its toll on the entire team and as she unlocked the door and kicked her heels off, Kate was briefly tempted to cuddle up to Rick on the couch. She needed him for comfort more than desire and wondered whether cuddling was included in their rules.

When she found him in the living room though, he was typing away furiously on his laptop. He was so caught up in his writing that he didn't even register that she was watching him. She knew that this was his way of coping with the latest events, so she decided to let him do some actual work for once and left him alone.

She turned away from the couch and made a beeline for the kitchen isle. A full glass of wine in one hand, the fourth Nikki Heat in the other, she retreated to the bathroom.

When the bubbles reached up to her chin and the candlelight made her tired eyes fall shut, she thought that this was at least as comforting and relaxing as cuddling with Rick would have been.

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><p><strong><span>DAY 7<span>**

The weekend was the first real challenge. With no work, no distractions and lots of free time that they could spend together, Rick and Kate were suddenly confronted with the downside of their bet. Usually they would stay in bed late, savoring the fact that no call came to alert them to a dead body in her jurisdiction. Now that their nightly activities only consisted of actually sleeping, Beckett was wide awake at 7 o'clock.

She looked to her left and watched Rick in his sleep. She'd woken up briefly when he'd slipped into bed, so she knew that he'd been up until about 3 in the morning.

She couldn't remember the last time he'd burned the midnight oil like that. He must have gotten a lot of writing done, or at least that's what she hoped.

He got really cranky when he didn't get any work done for a while.

Now that she thought about it, he also got cranky when he didn't get laid. Maybe this bet wasn't such a good idea after all.

Suddenly Rick stirred beside her and Kate was shaken out of her reverie.

"Kate…" he murmured, but she could see that he wasn't awake yet.  
>"Yessss!" he hissed and moaned, and she realized with a smirk that he was dreaming about her.<br>"Oh good lord" he whispered and threw his head from one side to the other.

Kate was delighted. Winning this bet would be easier than she thought.  
>Then his thigh brushed hers and a jolt of desire shot through her.<p>

Shit.

She hadn't been prepared for this sudden need to touch him, to feel his skin beneath hers and do all the things to him that he was most certainly dreaming about.

Rick groaned and stirred again, the sheets bunching up between his legs and falling from his body. His erection was clearly visible under his pajama pants.

Oh god.

She tried to resist him, she really did, but when he moaned her name again, she just couldn't anymore. She reached out to stroke him and his cock jumped in her hand.

He was hard as a rock and when she rose to a sitting position to get a better look at him, she felt the slide of her own wetness on the inside of her thigh. She traced his form through the silky fabric and he gave off a strangled sound. She grew bolder and squeezed him gently, all the while looking at his face and hoping that he didn't wake up.

Kate grazed his entire length and let her thumb brush the tip of him. It dampened the fabric and she knew that he was close.

Slowly and quietly she released him and got up from the bed, went around it to squat at his side and took his erection in her hands again. If he opened those damned eyes, she could be out of the room in two seconds.

Kate knew that this was not included in their rules. Hell, this probably broke all of them, she thought as she bent to kiss his bare abdomen. Eyeing his face as much as possible, she licked his skin and began to stroke him.

Soon his hips were bucking into her touch. She circled her wet tongue lower and felt his muscles flex, but then she rose to watch his face again. She really needed to be careful now.

When his entire body started to tremble and he was calling out her name again, she got up from her squatting position. Only seconds now.

With one last, firm stroke she shot him over the edge. She stroked once more, but then she was flying out of the room, into the bathroom, locking the door and collapsing against it.

Fuck.


	4. Day 7: Good Morning?

**A/N:** _I'm probably driving my beta insane because I'm always posting before she gets a chance to take a look, but unfortunately that's how it is right now. Sorry, MTAM! ;)_

_This chapter is on the short side again, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway._

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><p><strong>Day 7<strong>

Suddenly Rick was wide awake. Man, what a dream! He couldn't remember when he'd last had a dream this realistic. His entire body was vibrating with the aftermath of it.

Slowly he sat up on the bed, turning to find that Kate's side was empty. When he reached out and touched the sheets, they were still warm. She couldn't have been gone for long.

He looked down his body and pressed out a curse between his clenched teeth, thanking god that Kate wasn't in the room anymore. And not because of the cursing, he added as an afterthought.

A look at the bedside table told him that it was only half past seven, but there was no point in trying to go back to sleep now. Gingerly he got up from the bed, trying not to make a bigger mess than he already had.

He had just reached the bathroom door when it suddenly opened and Kate burst past him.

"Morning" she mumbled without looking back. Then she was gone.

"Huh," Rick huffed and shrugged his shoulders. At least now he didn't have to explain certain things to her.

When he emerged from the shower ten minutes later, he heard Kate cursing in the bedroom. He wrapped a towel around his lower body and opened the door.

She was dressed, holding her hand to her lips and frowning deeply. Apparently she was in a pretty bad mood, because her feet were kicking at the wooden closet as if it was responsible for her misery.

"What happened?" Rick asked and she flinched; she hadn't heard him come in.

"I cauhhh mah fkin in mah vippah" she said around the finger in her mouth and pointed to the zipper of her pants with her free hand. She was avoiding his eyes and he couldn't suppress the slight lift of one corner of his mouth.

"You did what?" he asked, trying to mask his amusement, but she just shot him a look.

"Nuh fuhmmy" she mumbled and turned to make the bed. On the inside, she was trying very hard not to think about the fact that he was standing there only in a towel or about her sexual frustration. On the outside, she tried to make it look as if her crankiness was only due to her injured finger.

At least he hadn't called her out on it, she kept telling herself. And at least he didn't seem to remember what she had done, she thought as she shook out her pillow.

"Um, why don't you go get something for your finger and let me do the bed?" he coughed out when he saw that she was moving towards his side of the bed. Rick had no idea what she would say or do when she spotted his mess on the light blue fabric, but he didn't care to find out. He stopped her hand midway to the sheets and she blushed. Shit, had she already seen…?

"Oh…okay…" Kate stuttered, pulled her hand from his gentle hold and slipped around his damp body and out into the hallway.

Now that was awkward, he thought and took to stripping the sheets from the bed. He had just changed them three days ago, but he hoped she wouldn't notice.

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><p>Sitting across from her at the breakfast table, he couldn't help but stare at her. In his mind he was replaying the dream; how he had pictured her above him, whispering his name, how her hand had closed around his cock…<p>

Whoa, down boy, he told himself and tried to focus on his plate. But he couldn't get rid of the marvelous sensation of her hands on him and inside his pants he felt himself harden again.

Kate bit into her waffle and closed her eyes in appreciation. Oh, these were delicious! She took another bite and licked the syrup from her upper lip. God, she'd kill for a breakfast like this every morning, but they rarely had the time to indulge like that.

Rick was getting more and more uncomfortable. Although this night's luscious dream had provided him actual release – which had turned into a rare occasion since he'd gotten laid more regularly – he was always hungry for more. Just looking at her made him want to do things to her that he'd never say out loud.

Well, actually he would say them out loud, if the moment called for it.

There wasn't much that Kate wouldn't do and even less that he wouldn't say. Ever since Kate had moved in, his body had gotten used to copious amounts of hot, wonderful sex. Talking himself out of it appeared to be harder than he had anticipated.

Kate was having similar problems. She took another bite of her glorious breakfast and moaned softly.

She was so charged up from this morning's unexpected encounter that she thought she might come just from eating a waffle.

When Rick made a choking sound, she opened her eyes and looked at him. His blue orbs had darkened with lust and the once-over he was giving her made her skin tingle. Kate bit her lip and he grunted. It sounded almost primal.

"You come inside your pants, or what?" she asked smugly and raised her delicate eyebrows, deciding that attack was indeed the best form of defense. Rick opened his mouth, closed it. Opened it again, closed it.

"Glad we got that cleared up" she concluded and continued to devour her waffle.


	5. Day 7: Objectionable

**DAY 7: Objectionable**

Despite the tension of the morning, they managed to spend a relaxing Saturday together. The paparazzi had learned to leave them alone if they wanted any information at all, so their walk through Central Park was only interrupted by two giggling fangirls and an older man pointing his finger at them.

It was a mutual decision when their hands reached for each other and their fingers intertwined.

Their rules said nothing about holding hands, but when Rick started tracing patterns on her wrist, Kate felt a tingling rush of goose bumps trail up her arm and let go of his hand. He was starting to turn her on without even trying, so she escaped her needs by creating distance between herself and the object of her desire.

The new exhibition at the MOMA had just opened. It was the perfect place to clear her head and get her body back under control. The tabloids' all-seeing camera eyes were not allowed access to the holy halls of art, but the museum was still too public for physical closeness, although Kate couldn't help tugging on his hand when she had spotted a particularly interesting piece here or there.

Rick liked art, he really did. He liked the finesse of a Cézanne, the dreamy awe of a Monet, even the sometimes confusing whirls of a Van Gogh. But after an hour or so, the images began to blur in front of him and watching became an act of concentration, rather than relaxation.

Kate wasn't like that at all. She absolutely adored art. She could look at the same painting for hours and hours, but if she could choose from many, one had to drag her away from them or else she'd never leave.

Her mom had loved art. Kate kept telling herself that it wasn't necessarily the only reason for her affinity, but she couldn't deny that it accounted for at least part of it.

When the museum closed, Kate was tempted to ask Rick to play out his celebrity card so they could stay a little longer. Her pride didn't allow her those amenities though, so she begrudgingly followed him out onto the street.

They both breathed a sigh of relief when they entered the loft; Rick because they hadn't been molested and because he would cry out if he had to look at another cubist painting or weird sculpture, Kate because she had managed to refrain from jumping him in the cab.

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><p>The pop of the wine bottle as Rick opened it sounded like music to Kate's ears.<p>

"X-Men or Spiderman?" she called to him from the couch. That had been their deal; Kate got to drag Rick through the art exhibition, but Rick could choose the action movie of the night. He made his way over from the open kitchen area with two full glasses in his hands.

"How about 'The Spirit'?" he suggested. They were both aware that, although their deal stated that he could choose freely, he would never choose to watch anything she didn't like.

She chuckled. "You only want to see that because you think Morgenstern is hot!" she accused.

He grinned and made no attempt to deny it. "Can we make a freebie five list like Kevin and Jenny?"

She laughed, fully and freely, the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. "Oh no, Mister 'White Whale'! You'd probably see it as a challenge and try to check all five from your list as fast as possible!"

He couldn't deny that either.

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><p>Kate awoke with a start. It took her a good minute to realize that she was tucked into Rick's arms on the couch. The blanket they had cuddled under was long forgotten, fallen to the floor, the movie already over for quite some time, the TV screen now a bright, irritating blue.<p>

She felt him stir beneath her and angled her head so she could see his face.

"Humph…" he grumbled and raised his hand from her hip to rub his sleepy eyes. "Whatime's it?" he asked, his speech slightly slurry. He'd only had a glass and a half of wine, so she was sure it was from the tiredness and not from the alcohol.

"Late" she answered, not wanting to look back towards the brightness of the screen to find out what time it really was.

"Hm" was his only return and when he stirred again, Kate suddenly realized that his one hand rested on her rear end. Her body tensed, but Rick didn't seem to care and instead of moving it away, used the other to brush her hair from her face.

"Let's sleep" he mumbled and pressed a short kiss to her lips. Then another. And when his lips brushed hers for the third time, Kate couldn't help but react to it. She couldn't help remembering the feel of his hands on her butt when there was no fabric separating their skin, couldn't help but rub her body against his when she discovered that his thigh was conveniently seated between her legs, couldn't help but gasp when his teeth slightly nipped at her lips.

That small sound she made catapulted him back to reality and he broke away as if someone had hit him.

Her eyes were big with shock and lust as she gaped at him, her chest heaving. They were both panting.

Kate blinked. With a jolt Rick jerked his hand away from her butt.

"I…you…we…" he stuttered.

She took a deep breath.

"We're even. Nothing happened," she decided.

He moistened his lips with his tongue and her control wavered.

"The bet is still on?" he asked, voice raspy with both sleep and want, his contours oddly shifting in the harsh light of the TV. She closed her eyes to fight her desire and swallowed thickly.

"The bet's still on."

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><p><strong>AN:** _Sorry for the long wait. I'll try to be faster with updates in the future!_  
><em>Have I told you guys recently how awesome you are for reviewing so much? Even on the worst of days, my inbox manages to make me happy! :D<em>


	6. Day 8: Dealing With It

**DAY 8: Dealing with it**

Despite popular belief, Kate Beckett was not a bad cook. The infamous Styrofoam temple in her old apartment had merely been a testament to her busy schedule, not to her abilities in the kitchen.

Kate usually enjoyed cooking, loved the smells that reminded her of home, liked to experiment with new tastes (although she was not quiteas experimental as Rick, who knew absolutely no boundaries when it came to creating allegedly edible things), but there was nothing she hated more than having to rush in the kitchen. Rick had quickly found out that this was the real reason why she seemed to live on takeout and delivery.

So, like only a man as foresighted as Rick would do, he ensured that they ordered in or that he cooked when they were on a case. And when they weren't, he made sure that she had the kitchen to herself.

This Sunday, the cooking also offered Kate an opportunity to mull over what had happened last night. Her hands were busy collecting ingredients for her home-made lasagna, but her mind was on that kiss.

It had definitely broken their rules. There had been teeth involved and the hint of tongue – it had definitely been a passionate kiss.

She was sure that they were both aware of that.

Kate opened a drawer and took out a sharp knife. _I want to kiss him like that again,_ she thought to herself, grabbing a tomato and starting to peel off the thin layer of skin with the tip of the knife.

_I want to do a lot more than just kiss him_, she admitted, but hastily pushed the thought away. If she let her mind wander, she'd cut her finger before long.

She noticed it immediately when Rick came in. She could feel his presence in the room as if someone had ignited a candle. There was a sudden warmth behind her, although not physical, because he stood too far away from her to actually cause any difference in temperature. It was more of a mental thing, a connection that had forged a strong bond between them over the years.

Without turning around to look at him, she knew exactly where he stood, exactly what his expression was and how he had crossed his arms over his chest in a rare display of insecurity.

Nevertheless she didn't acknowledge it. He would speak up when he was ready to say whatever it was that was on his mind, she was sure of it.

She felt him stare at her back, but he remained silent. After a minute, she heard him come closer. He tried to be quiet about it, but that man was about as subtle as a hippopotamus.

When he took a deep breath, she smiled softly. She was dying to know what bothered him. It had to be either something completely crazy, something very serious, or something embarrassing, because he wasn't usually that quiet. He was more of a 'speak now, think later' kind of guy. Usually with interesting consequences.

He cleared his voice to let her know that he was there. As if she hadn't known for five minutes already.

"Hi" she played along, greeting him without turning around, her hands still busy with the tomatoes.

"Hi" he answered, and she knew from the scruffiness of his voice that whatever he wanted to talk about was very difficult for him to turned around just when he started to speak.

"Is this bet about you resisting me and me resisting you, or is this about us resisting sex?"

She blinked at him. "I beg your pardon?"

He looked to the ground, not wanting to meet her eyes.

_Was_ _he so nervous because he wanted to call off their bet?_ she mused. That would probably make him a little nervous, having to say out loud that he couldn't hold out any longer, that he wanted to have her now after only one week of abstinence.

"Can we…you know…take care of it on our own?" he asked, suddenly shy despite his usual self.

That wasn't what she had expected.  
>But it made sense. Even a man as confident and shameless as Rick would feel a little insecure discussing masturbation with his partner.<p>

Kate recovered quickly and decided that she had every right to use this against him. An image of Rick in the shower with his hands on himself suddenly flashed in her mind and a thrill went down her spine. She sucked her lower lip between her teeth and teased him with a sultry look from between her long lashes.

"If you want to fuck yourself, go ahead" she purred and grinned in victory when his jaw muscles clenched. "Call me if you need help" she added and went back to slicing the tomatoes.

It took him about 40 seconds to regain the ability to speak.

"Seriously, though. Wouldn't that defy the purpose of this bet?"

She laid down the knife and stepped closer to him. They were not quite touching, but she could already feel the heat radiating from his body, this time a thoroughly physical thing. Kate was sure that he could feel it too.

She wasn't trying to keep the smile off her face. She had never been more sure that she was going to win this bet.

"I believe my words were somewhere along the line of 'You won't be able to keep your hands off of me for that long', so I think as long as your hands aren't on my body, you are fine" she quipped.

She was completely aware of the fact that she was a hypocrite. If those were the rules, she'd have lost their bet yesterday morning. _Oh well, what he doesn't know won't hurt me, _she thought.

His lips were pressed to a thin line and he was trying really hard not to breathe in her scent. "What if my hands end up on somebody else's body?" he asked, knowing that it would never happen, but wanting to provoke a reaction from her anyway.

"Then you would not only lose the bet, but also never see me again" Kate answered honestly, her voice completely devoid of emotions.

She turned back towards the counter top and he nodded. "That's what I thought."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _So, what do you think? What do you want to see happen next?_


	7. Day 8: Turning Tables

**Day 8: Turning Tables**

Kate and Rick spent the rest of the day in each other's company, eating and talking and laughing and carefully skirting around anything sexual. Even a stranger would be able to tell that they were avoiding close proximity, let alone skin contact. When even a brush of Kate's finger alongside his, doing something as innocent as passing the salt, could send jolts of electricity down to Rick's groin, distance was probably a good idea.

Rick had planned on taking Kate out to a movie, providing not only entertainment but also safety, since they wouldn't dare to ravish each other in public.

Although that was a secret fantasy of his.

But when he came out of his study after finishing touches on chapter 7, she was laying on her stomach on the couch, dressed in her comfortable sweat pants, one of his novels under her nose, and suddenly he couldn't think of a reason to take her out.

He plopped down and stretched out beside her on the wide couch and she made room for him without looking up from the page.

"Which one is it?" he asked and twisted and bent to reach for the throw blanket and cover his and her feet.

"The first" she answered and scooted the book towards his side, so that he could read too.

"Chapter nine? Ooooh, you're getting close to the juicy parts!" he teased.

She smiled softly, not a teasing, but a genuine and comfortable smile.

"Read to me?" she asked him.

He smiled back at her. He could never deny her anything when she looked at him so openly, so unguardedly and beautiful like right now. He leaned forward to kiss her cheek.

"Of course."

And with his low, charming voice, he began reading.

_"Nikki thought it over and said, 'It's personal. Maybe when we know each other better.'_

_'Personal. Is that code for 'because of a guy'?'_

_'Rook, we've been riding together for how many weeks? Knowing what you know about me, do you think I would make a choice like that for a guy?'_

_'The jury will disregard my question.'"_

Rick stopped and angled his head to get a look at Kate's face. His own showed off pride, self-assuredness and something close to seriousness.

"I thought I was really clever when I wrote that. It characterizes you. You are always so independent, so strong. You never need anyone else, you don't care what others think. I always loved that about you. Even at the beginning, even when I wrote this, I think I already loved that about you."

The smile she gave him reminded him of that night in L.A. some years ago, where they'd been so close to crossing that line that eventually led them where they were today, but didn't. The words were similar, words of adoration, words of softly spoken wonderment. But unlike that night, he could now lean over and touch his lips to hers without startling her, and so he did.

"But I also hated that about you" Rick continued when they parted. "That independence, that urge to never trust and never rely. It kept us apart for so long."

Kate shifted her weight to one arm and lifted the other to run her hand through his hair. It had grown quite long recently and definitely needed a cut, but she liked it like this.

"Thank god you're persistent" she said and her eyes sparkled with emotion. She meant it. If it hadn't been for his persistence, and his patience, she would have never discovered what a wonderful thing they could be.

"I was thinking you were going to say 'stubborn'" he joked to lighten the mood of the situation. She grinned.

"That, too."

He turned back to the page and found the line he had finished on.

"'_No, this is good, I want to know,' Nikki said, and scooted closer to him. 'Would you change what you do for a woman?'_

'_I can't answer that.'_

'_You have to, I'm interrogating your ass. Would you change what you do for a woman?'_

'_In a vacuum . . . I can't see it.'_

'_All right, then.'_

'_But," he said and paused to form his thought, 'for the right woman? . . . I'd like to think I'd do just about anything.'" _Rick finished. "Wow, I didn't realize the first book was already that cheesy."

Kate wrinkled her nose. "I would never say 'I'm interrogating your ass'. I don't think you were doing your research well enough."

Rick bumped her shoulder with his. "It's just a book! She's a fictional character. You of all people should know that!"

"Oh yeah? And how about that shower scene in the fourth book? I don't think there was one word in that chapter that was actually fiction, except for our names!" she accused him, her face taking on a mild shade of red, partly from anger and partly from blushing. That scene was one of the best he had ever written, and knowing that the reality had been almost exactly like that only made it better each time she read it.

He caught her hand with his and laced their fingers together, shrugging his shoulders in an apologizing manner. "What can I say, that encounter was quite inspiring…"

He moved closer to her and nuzzled her nose with his, dropping a quick kiss to her lips. "Sex with you is always inspiring…" he added and wriggled his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Thank god we're not having any right now, at least that way it can't show up in your next book."

He shook his head. "You're thinking wrong. This way, the next book will be full of sex scenes, because that's all I'm apparently able to think about right now."

She moved their intertwined fingers to his chest and pressed them down on top of his heart. "Why don't you write with this…" she moved their hands to his head, "…and this…" she moved their hands down his body "…instead of with this?" And then she pressed their joined hands to his crotch and he fought to suppress a moan. She held his hand in a way that forced him to feel himself grow harder while she touched nothing of his body but his hand, thereby not really breaking their rules.

Her lips were slightly parted as she looked at him with a sexy gleam in her eyes. Her enchanting hazel orbs quickly got bigger when he forced their hands away from his body and instead advanced on hers, using his knee to nudge her legs apart. He knew exactly where to apply pressure, how to rub and how to guide her fingers to drive her mad even with her clothes and her hand between him and her heat.

When her mouth opened wider to draw in a deep breath, he pulled away. The book fell from the couch as he shuffled to stand up and free his legs from the throw blanket that had tangled around them.

To her shock, his face was entirely too pleased and smug for her liking and not nearly as strained as she had wished.

"I hope you know where the batteries are" he told her with a complacent smile, before he turned around and went back into his study.

Frozen to the spot, Kate stayed on the couch for a little while longer, trying to tame down her arousal and get herself back together. She was close to speculating about the batteries' whereabouts when she heard the familiar clicking of keys from the study. He was writing again.

"No" she said to strengthen herself. She would not let him win this round.

She knew that abiding by her own rules she had the right to pleasure herself, without ending the bet.

But if he could live through this without caving in, so could she.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**_ This would have been up yesterday, but FF wouldn't let me load the chapter -.-_

_I know many of you wanted to see more 'action' in this one, but I struggled with my storyline and …well, this turned out surprisingly cheesy. I promise I have a plan for the next chapters and they will include lots of the suggestions some of you have given me. Keep them coming, I'm always open to dumb ideas ;)_

_The extracts that Rick reads out are literally taken from Hyperion's "Heat Wave". I claim no copyright.  
><em>

_I'm very thankful for all the reviews and alerts this story has received so far. Thank you very much, all of you.  
>The next updates should be faster (and even hotter)! :D<br>_


	8. Day 9: Struggle

**A/N:** _Thank you __, __WolfChild65__, __manuxinhace__, __Bambi__ and __Lianna-snow__ for little bits and pieces of inspiration for this chapter! Keep your suggestions coming - they might end up in my story eventually ;)_

_Another huge thank you and a big apology as well go out to __phnxgrl__. I know this is probably not what you wanted to read and you still don't like it, but I tried my best._

_Please, dear readers, tell me when you think something is OOC! I know I cannot always make everyone happy, but I want to write the best story I can, as much in-character as possible, and I need your feedback and input for that!_

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 9: Struggle<strong>

Kate was the first to switch tactics.

On Monday she came out of the bathroom just as Rick was buttoning his shirt. She was damp and hot and smelled delicious. Her body was only wrapped in a small towel, which hung so low that he could see her cleavage and had a slit so high on her leg that the edges of the tattoo on her lower hipbone peeked out. As if those features weren't enough to get him instantly hard, she was also singing an old Frank Sinatra song. Her sultry voice, coming from those kissable lips, was almost always his undoing.

He brushed past her, ripping off the shirt he had just put on, muttering an oath.

She simply grinned.

He turned the shower to freezing cold.

That's when she realized that this bet would never end if they kept avoiding the burning tension between them. She had already cheated, and she acknowledged and accepted that fact with a slight pang of guilt. It was a raw display of what she was willing to do to win this bet. Maybe she had already gone too far. It wasn't like her to keep the truth from him; their relationship was based on trust and honesty.

But she would not give in, would not break, not when he had told her last night that he'd force her to sing Lady Marmalade in the precinct and make her do whatever he pleased for an entire week if she lost.

It wasn't solely about that, though.

She had started this thing. She refused to look at his grinning face and give him the courtesy of telling her 'I told you so'.

Kate decided that it was time that Rick lost the iron control he seemed to have over his body. If she just teased him the right way, he would lose the bet - and they could have sex again. It was really a win-win situation for her.

He was only a man, after all, and damn it if she wasn't going to use it against him.

* * *

><p>When Rick stepped out of the cold shower, the first thing he noticed was the red lacy bra that hung delicately from the door knob. His chilled body reacted to the sight immediately, just when he thought he had it back under control.<p>

Today was going to be a difficult day.

He quickly got dressed and followed the smell of fresh toast into the kitchen, buttoning his shirt for the second time that day. He found her at the counter, humming along to John Lennon's "Love" on the radio. She wore a simple starched white blouse and was standing with her back towards him. He took in the view, appreciating her tight-fitting dark jeans and the way they hugged her curves, letting his gaze travel down her endless legs to her black four inch heels. Her open hair fell down her back, ruffled and damp, just the way it looked after sex.

To him, everything about her said 'Fuck me'.

Rick cleared his throat. "You left your bra in the bathroom…Should I…put it in the hamper?"

Kate looked up from her plate and turned her head to smile at him. A little bit of Nutella stuck to the corner of her mouth and he desperately wanted to lick it away. She swallowed the last bite of her toast before she spoke.

"No, I'll put it back into the drawer. I wanted to wear it today but you could see it through the blouse."

He raised his eyebrows, his question unspoken. She wiped her hands and mouth on a napkin and turned to completely face him, her hips leaning against the counter.

"You can't see anything, can you?" she asked, the perfect face of innocence.

Rick's eyes darted down to her breasts.

"Uh…" he stammered, his hands clenched at his sides as he fought the urge to touch her. "Uh…no" he finally stuttered out.

He had to admit that he could indeed not see anything through the fabric, but simply knowing that she wore nothing underneath that…

Fuck.

Today was going to be a_ very_ difficult day.

* * *

><p>Kate did not hesitate to pull out all the stops.<p>

She wore lip-gloss that made her mouth extra-pouty, and kept biting her lower lip as she did her paperwork, to ensure that he focused on them.

He didn't know whether he was only imagining it, but it seemed to him as if she stayed closer to him than usual, smiled brighter, spoke softer.

By noon he was so aroused that every time she brought her hand up to brush her hair from her face, he wanted to grab that hand and drag her into the nearest empty hallway until he could throw her against the wall and make her scream his name.

He thought back to the time when they hadn't been together yet and all of his being had ached for her. It had been a different ache, situated deeply in his soul, not his groin.

There had been no one else after Gina. He probably hadn't had sex for over six months and it hadn't been a problem. He had missed it, yes, but it hadn't been something that had consumed his mind, his heart and his body like now.

He had always suspected that sex with Kate would be spectacular. Now that he actually knew what it was like, he didn't have words to describe it. Every time with Kate felt like the first time.

Merely thinking about her turned him on, more than any other woman ever had.

He hadn't expected to get so addicted to her. He loved her with all his being; that he could understand. He hadn't expected anything less. She'd had a place in his heart long before he had ever kissed her.

But to crave her body so much that his balls turned blue - after only 9 pathetic days without sex - that was new to him.

If anyone had told him so a week ago, he wouldn't have believed that she could hold such power over him.

When she moaned sinfully over her coffee, Rick finally figured out what she was doing. He wasn't imagining things. Everything about her was full of purpose today – she wanted him to break.

'_Well, anything she can do, I can do better'_, Rick thought and hatched a plan.

When she stood to get a refill and passed close to him, she casually dragged her nails along his sensitive neck, as if on accident. He suppressed a moan and stood up to follow her into the break room.

"Kate, you have to stop this" he told her, carefully closing the door behind them.

"Stop what?" she asked innocently and pressed a button. The soft noises of the espresso machine and the delicious smell of coffee started to fill the air.

He slowly moved in behind her and caged her body, dipping his head to let his nose brush along the exposed skin of her neck. She didn't move, but he could sense her muscles flexing under her skin. Apparently, she wasn't as immune to him as she thought.

He nuzzled her hair and took a deep breath, inhaling the smell that consistently clouded his senses.

"Stop it, Rick" she tried to scold him, but her voice was throaty and weak and didn't at all convey what she wanted to. He hummed softly against her neck and blew hot air down her back. "Rick…you're breaking the rules…" she tried again, her eyes closed and her hands clenched into tight fists. She was torn between joyfully hoping that he was going to break any minute now, and realizing in horror that she was close to breaking herself.

"How so?" he asked quietly, seductively. "My hands are not on your body and neither are my lips" he whispered and she couldn't deny him. His hands were pressed to the countertop on either side of her, but they weren't touching her body.

Rick moved closer. His heat was seeping into her like warm fluids and Kate wanted nothing more than to lean into him and rub her body against his, grind her hips into his lap to find the evidence of their teasing.

Rick in turn was counting down the seconds in his head. If she didn't break soon, he would surely do something stupid.

The buzz of her mobile phone in the front pocket of her jeans simultaneously turned her on and made them jump apart.

"This isn't over yet" he threatened as she pulled out the phone. A small nod of her head told him that she shared his opinion. She squeezed her eyes shut for just a split second, then her professional detective face was back in place and she held the phone to her ear.

"Beckett."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**_ Sorry for all the swear words in this chapter… And sorry for the evil ending. You are allowed to look forward to the next chapter, though. It is kinda smoking, if I do say so myself. Hopefully._


	9. Day 9: Release

**Important News! _  
><em>I might be without internet for the next three weeks, because I'm once again leaving the country! I will try to give you an update or two anyway, but I can't promise you anything yet. So, if you don't read anything new from me for a while, don't worry, I'll be back!**

****I'm really sorry for that mini hiatus. Go read somebody else's fanfic if you're bored! Try out anything by daphnebeauty, she's a genius! :D****

**A/N: **_Ummm...yeah. I have no idea how I feel about this chapter. Again, please excuse my repeated use of bad words. And please excuse everything else, too. I mean, not if it's good, which is still an option, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I have no idea what I'm saying...just go ahead and read. And please throw all your comments at me, no matter whether you thought it was awesome or terrible. Don't be shy, I can take it._

* * *

><p><strong>Day 9: Release<strong>

Their conversation had to wait until 10pm that night, when the detective finally made it back to the loft after coaxing a confession out of their criminal. Hanging up her coat and slipping out of her high heels, she released a heartfelt sigh. It was good to be home.

She could hear Rick typing away in the study, so she grabbed a yogurt out of the fridge and sunk onto the couch. When she had finished her questionable dinner, she set it down on the coffee table and closed her eyes for a minute, allowing herself to be lulled under by the steady clicking of keys.

When she woke up, she was disoriented and tense from her uncomfortable position. When she felt something buzz against her thigh, she realized it had been her phone that had woken her.

Frowning at the caller ID in the dim light of the living room, she pressed the green button.

"Rick?"

"Well, hello there detective!" he greeted, his low voice teasing her. She ignored it.

"Why are you calling? Aren't you in your study?" Kate was confused. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everything's peachy!" he exclaimed, but it didn't erase the frown on her face. "I'm not in the study anymore, though. I'm in the bedroom. Our bedroom."

Kate sighed. Her tired mind was not prepared for his games. "Why are you calling when I'm just fifty feet from you? What's so important that you woke me up for it, but couldn't even go down the stairs?" Suddenly a thought hit her. "You are not trapped in your closet again, are you? Because I told you I wouldn't get you out another time. If you want to do weird experiments for 'research', that's fine, but you have to do them without me, I'm not your personal…"  
>"Kate" he interrupted her ramblings, his calm voice far more effective than any argument would have been. "I'm not trapped in the closet again. I miss you."<p>

"Oh."

They were silent for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts.

"Maybe…I might miss you too" she said softly, as close to an admission as she was going to come.

"I mean, just your body of course…that's the only thing you're slightly useful for…" she amended, and they laughed together.

The silence stretched between them again and Kate got up to throw the yogurt packing into the trash as she debated whether it was time to climb the stairs and end their stupid bet.

"What are you wearing?" Rick suddenly asked, and Kate froze with her foot already on the lowest step.

"Oh, no! No, Rick, I'm not going to do this!" she told him fiercely. That particular idea to bend their rules hadn't even crossed her mind. Well, maybe it had, but she'd resolutely battled it down.

"But you did it once!" he threw back, letting his thoughts wander to the time when he'd been on his book tour and they'd discovered the merits of the 21st century. Particularly the wonderful invention that was the video phone.

"Yes, because you were far, far away and not sitting in the next room where I can actually hear you if you call loud enough!" she hissed.

"So you give up?" he asked, the smile evident in his voice.

"No, I'm only saying that I'm not going to have phone sex with you when you're in the same building as I am!"

"So you'll have phone sex with me if I go out now and call you again from Esposito's place?"

She could barely refrain from rolling her eyes at the speaker. "No, of course I won't! Besides, I don't think Esposito would appreciate that visit. It's…" she paused to look at her father's watch. "It's 1 in the morning and I have to be at work in a couple of hours! I'm not going to have phone sex with you!" she repeated.

"Okay, then hang up now" he resolved. "Either hang up or tell me what you're wearing…"

She hesitated.

Kate hesitated and even in that one second of indecision she already knew how this night was going to end.

"I need you, Kate" he told her, his voice so full of honest, undisguised longing for her that it sent a shiver down her spine.

"I want you" he continued, taking her silence as a sign to keep trying, keep talking, keep giving.

"I want to taste you…I want to have you, have you wrapped around me."

She released a shaky breath and he knew that he was on the right track.

"I want to take you against the kitchen counter and fuck you so hard that you don't know whether you're screaming from pain or pleasure."

She blushed, a deep crimson that no one could witness. She couldn't recall many times when he'd been this direct, this forward.  
>It turned her on.<p>

The more she tried to erase his words, his voice, the more pictures appeared in her mind. She wanted him. Wanted him to do exactly what he'd just said. She wanted him, she wanted to scream, and she wanted him to make her scream.

And just like that she stopped fighting it.

She sagged against the railing of the stairs. "You want me."

It wasn't a question, merely a restating of the obvious facts.

It was the first thing she'd said in a while and the fact that she'd said anything at all had him singing hallelujah in his head. He could also hear the tightness of her throat, her long trembling intakes of air, and that drove him to the point where he finally gave in and stretched out on the bed, his hand already wandering towards its goal.

"I do. I want you so much that it hurts, actually physically hurts. You're the only one I want. The only one I'll ever want."

He heard a hint of the sigh she tried to suppress.

Then he became more demanding.

"Tell me you want me too."

She sighed again, louder this time. "Oh I want you, Rick."

At the sound of his name, he hardened even further. He kicked off his boxers, but he still hadn't touched himself.

"Tell me again, Katherine Beckett" he demanded, and she was oddly thrilled by the way he took control.

"I want you, Richard Castle." It was almost a plea. If she had been able to think straight, she would have thought that it sounded absolutely pathetic, but her thoughts were scattered everywhere, so it didn't occur to her.

"I want you to fuck me. I want you to take me. I'm so wet and you're not even here, not even touching me. Please touch me" she begged and as she did, her own hand came up to cup her breast through the thin material of her blouse in a semi-conscious decision of her brain.

"Yesss" Rick hissed and finally guided his hands to his throbbing arousal. "I'll touch you. I'll touch all of your glorious body, every inch of it. I know your body so well. I know just where you want me to touch you…"

When she felt her legs give in underneath her heated body, she summoned her strength to walk over to the big couch. She almost tripped over her own feet in her haste, but then she fell into the cushions, careful, even in her dazed state, to pull the throw blanket beneath her in case she'd leave evidence behind. Her pants were gone in an instant.

"I want to touch you, Kate, I want to, but you're so far away. So close, but so far away. Touch yourself. Will you do that for me, will you touch yourself?"

And so she did. One of her fingers slipped into her heat and she mewled, sighed and moaned all at once.

"Kate" he choked out, because the noises she was making were almost enough on their own.

"Are you touching yourself?" he asked, his voice only a whisper. It was all that he could manage at that moment.

"Yes" she confirmed and slipped another finger into her soaking middle. And then, because she was Kate Beckett after all, she took control.

"My fingers feel so good inside my body, but they don't make me feel the way you do. You feel so good inside of me, I'm so wet, it's as if we're fucking in the shower. I love it when you throw me against the tiles. It hurts a little, but it's a good hurt, because you're so deep inside of me that you can reach that spot…" and she trailed off, because her fingers were mirroring her words and she could hardly breathe. But Rick took it from her, spun a tale for her, his thumb on his engorged tip.

"I love when you're so slippery from the soap that your body slides against mine in the rhythm that we create together. I love that I can make you scream when I bite into your shoulder, because I think you know that I do that when I can't take it any longer, when it's just too much. And the water is everywhere and it makes you slide down the wall that I'm pushing you against and it makes me go even deeper than before because gravity works in our favor. I love the way your breasts slide against my chest with each thrust…"

Kate moaned and searched desperately for the loud speaker button on her phone so that she could use both of her hands. When it slipped from her shaking fingers and fell to the ground, she almost cried out. "Don't stop now" she muttered. "Don't stop!"

But he had stopped, because a thought had occurred to him. And then she reached the phone with her fingertips and pushed the right button. She was still too far away to pick it up and it wasn't worth it to slip her fingers out of her body, so she just left it on the floor and brought her other hand up to her breasts, the fabric delicious and damp as she rubbed it against her hardened peaks and her heated body.

Rick found his voice again and continued talking. "Do you know how hot it made me to know that you weren't wearing a bra the entire day? Every second of every minute I saw you, I had to think about that, and it made me so constantly hard that I almost lost it…"

He had to stop, because Kate was moaning so loudly that his hand was speeding up of its own volition.

"And every time I turned your way, my blouse rubbed against my nipples and I was so afraid that you could see them through the white fabric, but you couldn't" she continued his thought. "I felt so in power, so sexy and dirty because I wasn't wearing underwear at my work place and I hadn't ever done that before…" she admitted and fought with said blouse until it fell open and she could touch skin to skin and it felt so good that she shouted out her pleasure and dug her fingers deeper into her core, her thumb rubbing circles on her clit.

"Yes!" she cried out, "More, yes!"

Rick couldn't even respond anymore.

She was teetering on the edge and could hear guttural grunts coming through the loud speaker, but somehow she found the air necessary to tell him that she was coming, only for him, that he was the only man she ever thought about, the only one that could make her feel this good. Her admission ended in a cry of release and he joined her, screaming out her name.

"I love you" he sighed out with a long breath and she was panting so hard that she couldn't reply right away. She let her head fall into the couch cushions, spent and sated.

"I love you too" Kate said softly after another long second of listening to each other's breathing, and then all she could hear was the beeping of her phone that told her that Rick had ended the call.


	10. Day 10: Nocturnal Activities

**A/N: **_I'm back! For all who were asking, I was travelling all over Italy and had a great time. Thank you for being so patient and for your awesome reviews on chapter 9! I'll reply to all of you shortly. _

_Without further ado, please enjoy the next chapter!_

* * *

><p><strong><span>DAY 10: Nocturnal Activities<span>**

Kate didn't realize that she'd closed her eyes until a gentle hand rubbed her shoulder and she was lifted up into the air.

"Shh" Rick soothed her when panic flared in her chest and she struggled against the strong arms that seemed to carry her almost effortlessly. "It's alright, it's just me" he murmured softly and kissed her forehead. It took her several tries to blink her heavy eyelids open, but then she looked into the endless blue orbs of the man that she loved.

Now that her brain was starting to wake up from its daze, Kate noticed that he had one arm around her shoulders, the other one underneath her legs and was carrying her slowly through the living room. His chest was bare and she angled her head, but couldn't see whether he was wearing anything else. It reminded her…

"I'm naked" she realized and squirmed a bit in his grasp. He chuckled softly and stopped in front of the stairs.

"Not really, you still have your blouse on…"

He leered down at her, her legs bare, her hair tousled, her blouse open to reveal an inviting rosy nipple and most of her firm, round breasts. "…although I have to admit that it's not doing a lot to cover you."

But he was a gentleman first and foremost, so he ripped his gaze away from her tempting body and looked into her eyes. They were unusually small in her glowing face and he knew that she was mostly asleep.

He sighed dramatically, pulled her tighter against his chest and carried her up the stairs.

She was almost out again when he laid her down onto the bed, so he took his able fingers to her blouse and finished unbuttoning it for her. When he had undone the last, he was suddenly faced with the problem that he couldn't take it off her unless she lifted her upper body from the bed.

"Kate" he whispered, but she didn't react. "Kate" he repeated, and her eyes opened lazily.

She was looking at his belly button.  
>Or at least she thought it was his belly button.<br>It had to be his belly button.

She was so sleepy that she couldn't even really remember getting up the stairs and into bed, but she must have somehow done it because the ceiling behind his hovering body belonged to their bedroom.

She took a long second to let her eyes wander from the ceiling back to his belly button and then lower, disappointed when he was wearing boxers, but too tired to even voice her disappointment.

"Kate" he said, patiently and calm, and she let her eyes travel up his chest and collarbone and neck and chin and mouth until she met his gaze.

"Huh?" was all she could manage. He smiled softly and motioned to her blouse. Her tired eyes swept to her own body, looking but not seeing. It took her about 30 seconds to realize what he wanted from her, and he would have made a joke about it hadn't he been so tired himself.

She seemed to move in slow motion when she raised her self up and he helped her tug the blouse off. With his large hands at the small of her back, he guided her down and up a little towards the headboard.

"Love you" she murmured, her eyes closing once more. He stretched his barely clad body above her naked one to touch his lips to hers, his weight supported by his forearms next to her head.

"I love you too" he whispered and rolled to the side. He was just about to pull the covers up around their bodies when a hint of moonlight reflected off something at her wrist and he noted that she was still wearing her father's watch.

Carefully taking her hand into his, he gently traced the edge of the wristband, feeling her soft skin and the beat of her pulse before unclasping the old keepsake. He leaned across her once more and set it down on her bedside table, almost reverently. It was a piece of her, a piece of her identity and he cherished it as much as he cherished her.

He laid down beside her and pulled her against him until every inch of her sinful body was pressed against him, her smooth legs tangled with his and her head pillowed on his chest. Delicious hot air blew down his neck every time she exhaled.

Rick tightened his arms around her and fell into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

><p>The ringing of a phone woke her at an ungodly hour. It didn't surprise her that her head was pillowed on his broad chest, but it amused her to see that she was naked and he wasn't. She hadn't slept this good in a long while and even the early call couldn't darken her relaxed mood. Her entire body was warm and sated and it was with great reluctance that she lifted her cheek away from his soothing heartbeat.<p>

She frowned when she realized that it was Rick's cell and not hers that emitted its unwanted noises from his bedside table. Even without looking at a clock she knew that it couldn't be much later than five in the morning. Her heart skipped a beat.

_Alexis!_

She was currently at college in California, which meant that with the added time difference, it was the middle of the night - not a good sign. The thought that something could have happened to the girl catapulted her into action. She scrambled across the bed, slapping at Rick's shoulder on purpose and bringing her knee to his stomach on accident as she climbed atop his body in her hurry to reach the phone.

"Hmpfffsssearly" he protested and turned away, grabbing a pillow and pressing it onto his face to block out light and sound. She ignored him and answered his phone.

Kate released an audible breath when it was only Esposito. The other detective explained to her that he had tried her own cell first and it occurred to her that it was probably still down by the couch, along with her pants and her panties…

When she had hung up, she kicked at Rick's backside. "Get up, we have a case!"

She poked him with her toes and he swatted at her feet with his hand. "Grnffstoppitt" he mumbled into his pillow. She jumped from the bed, but stopped at its foot. Then she leaned in, grabbed the waistband of his boxers and swiftly pulled them down his body.

He opened one eye and curiously looked her up and down. She held up his boxers as if they were a prize and a slow grin spread across his face. "Hello, beautiful lady!"  
>Suddenly sleep seemed far away and other things were more interesting. He opened his other eye, pushed his protective pillow away and reached out for her, but she slipped out of his grasp.<p>

"Nuh-uh! You need to shower, mister!" she ordered him and turned away to hide her blush when blurry images of naked skin and something about soap and gravity came to her mind.

"That might be the best idea you've had in a while" he said dreamily and she knew that his mind was exactly where hers had just been.

She turned around to glare at him. "Alone!"

He pouted and looked at her with giant puppy eyes, but she had no mercy. Throwing his boxers at his face, she stormed into the adjoining bathroom and firmly shut the door. His shoulders slumped when he heard the lock turn around.

"Kaaaaaate!" he whined and because he couldn't see her she allowed herself a bright smile of childish glee. She turned on the giant wonderful shower Rick had dubbed "The Double Rainbow Maker" and he sniffed like a baby. "Kaaa-haaaate!" he whined again and her laugh echoed off the tiled walls.

"Go shower downstairs" she told him through the closed door and stepped into the spray.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _And yes, I am indeed having a ball with this story. ;)_

_A huge thank you goes out to manuxinhace. This chapter would have never been written if she weren't so insistently inspiring._


	11. Days 10, 11 and 12: Distractions

**A/N: **_Sorry, this chapter starts off a little dark, but don't worry, it gets better…_

* * *

><p><strong><span>DAY 10: Distractions<span>**

Later that morning Kate watched a young girl bleed out on the pavement in front of her.

When bad things happened, people sought the comfort of another human being, the warmth of their embrace. Sometimes after a tragedy, just like Rick had once told her, two people just needed to be with each other.

Sometimes sex was a great way to prove to yourself that you were still alive.

That morning, Kate couldn't even begin to think about having sex. Not when a bastardly child-murderer was still out there. Just the thought of celebrating her love and life with Rick, while another innocent child could be fighting for survival, screaming and bleeding and desperate, almost made her puke.

Rick didn't stay with her that day. And while she needed him by her side more than ever, she could completely understand him as well. When he talked about flying to California to see Alexis, she barely had the strength to talk him out of it.

He called her instead, ignoring the fact that she yelled at him for making her miss class. They made a deal to chat via Skype after her classes were over and Rick gave Kate a faint excuse of a smile before he was gone.

He came back to the precinct when she hadn't called or returned home by seven. He took one look around their team, assessed the dark circles under Kevin's eyes, saw the determination in Kate's, observed Javier's clenched jaw, and pulled out his phone. Half an hour later the room was filled with enough pizza to feed a small town.

Kate smiled softly at Rick. Her expression meant _Thank you_, _I love you_, _I would probably starve without you_ and _I really need this case to be over_ all wrapped into one look.

He smiled back and the phone rang. They finally had a lead.

* * *

><p><strong><span>DAY 11<span>**

Wednesday wasn't much better. Their lead actually led nowhere and the main suspect apparently had an airtight alibi. At least no other bodies showed up. Still, a heavy weight pressed down the shoulders of each member of the team. Children were always the worst.

Their grief threatened to drown them, but it also made them work harder, look closer, check everything at least twice. They wouldn't let this madman get away.

* * *

><p><strong><span>DAY 12<span>**

On Thursday, Lanie brought surprising new evidence and they managed to close the case far quicker than they could have hoped for. The burden was lifted off their shoulders, only a sour taste remained in their mouths as Esposito and Ryan cuffed the older man with the haunting eyes, purposely scratching his wrists with the metal before they locked him away.

Kate swallowed thickly as she watched the iron bars close in front of the killer's face. He smiled at her, clearly out of his right mind.

And then he spit.

He aimed for her face, but only hit the sleeve of her blouse, thanks to her fast reflexes. Two officers were at her side immediately, but she brushed them off, making a point of not giving the maniac in the cell the attention he wished to receive.

Feeling the sudden need to throw up, Kate stormed off towards the Ladies' bathroom.

Rick's hand stopped the door before it could fall shut, standing quietly in the doorway as he watched her bend over and splash her face with cold water. When she raised herself up again, their gazes met in the mirror. Wordlessly Rick let the door fall shut behind him, stepping fully into the room just as she started to unbutton her blouse. Revealing a simple white camisole beneath it, she shed the stained garment and pulled it under the stream of water.

Rick came up behind her, his arms on both sides of her body but not touching her, and took the soap from the edge of the sink. Soaping up his hands, he took the blouse from her and started cleaning it, effectively pinning her between his large body and the functional porcelain. She tensed, but then relaxed into his embrace, moving back slightly to cuddle deeper into his warmth.

"Thank you" she murmured, took the wet soap from where he had placed it and soaped up her hands to join him in his efforts to get the saliva out of the fabric. Their wet fingers slid against each other just as he whispered "No problem" and lightly kissed her bare neck, his hot breath cascading down her back.

And suddenly the desire was back with full force. As the adrenaline of the case and her silent anger were rinsed away along with the stain in her shirt, that fire they had worked so hard on extinguishing got reignited. Kate had thought that after what had happened Sunday night, she'd be able to hold out for a while longer. Apparently she'd thought wrong.

She angled her head to the side to offer him better access to her neck and he let his soft lips brush down her skin. Placing another kiss to the point where her neck met her shoulder, he let his tongue slip out to taste her. Gripping his slick hands tighter in hers, she fought hard to suppress the moan that was already vibrating in her chest.

When he lightly bit her skin, she gasped and pushed back into him, to which he responded by pressing her into the sink, the length of her body touching his from chest to toe.

His teeth scraped at her shoulder and their tangled hands gripped the edge of the sink together, his thumbs sliding in wet caresses along her fingers. Kate sucked in a breath and looked up at him, her curls falling into her face and obscuring her view when she turned her head. His nostrils flared as they caught the scent of her cherry conditioner wafting over to him. He pressed her into the sink more forcefully and she could feel the bulge in his pants grow against her backside.

A helpless whimper spilled from her lips and she strained her neck some more to meet his gaze, her dilated pupils shining behind her long lashes. The dark, undisguised lust in his eyes made her subconsciously wet her lips.

They moved simultaneously, their foreheads touching, their noses softly brushing as they angled their heads in opposite directions. Their eyes closed and their open mouths connected, just barely, a second passing between them as they shared the same breath. His lips closed around her top one just as she sucked his lower one into her hot mouth. They were completely in synch. Her teeth nipped at him before they released each other, barely leaving enough room between them to breathe. Their eyes opened lazily and they locked gazes. No words needed to be spoken. Their parted lips moved to join together again, their eyes remaining open this time, and Rick's tongue snaked forward just as someone knocked on the door.

They halted in their movement, stuck in a position that was all but unpleasant, his erection straining his pants and digging into her backside, their hands clasped together, their mouths locked.

"You okay in there, Beckett?" Esposito's voice came from the other side of the door.  
>Slowly they drew apart, Rick stepping away from her only reluctantly.<br>"Uh…yeah…" Kate pressed out and swallowed, dropping her eyes away from Rick's scrutinizing gaze. "Yes, Esposito. I'm fine."

Their hands were the last part of their bodies that separated. Still silent, they moved until they were side by side in front of the sink and could wash their hands clean.

Kate left Rick alone with her blouse and his erection and exited the bathroom to find a spare shirt.

He had to wait ten minutes until he had composed himself enough to follow her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _This one is for tansypool for making a comment about how they should break in the precinct. And __Manuxinhace, I think you recognize a part of this chapter. I hope I did it justice._


	12. Day 12: Girl Talk

**A/N:**_ This chapter goes out to Casckett and Lianna-snow, who thought this story needed some Lanie. I agree._

* * *

><p><strong><span>DAY 12: Girl talk<span>**

Because Kate didn't think that she could face Rick now without dragging him back into the bathroom and finishing what they had started, she decided to visit her friend in the morgue and thank her for effectively breaking their case wide open.

Unfortunately, Lanie could read her like a book, even more so than Rick.

"Are you alright?" she asked the second Kate stepped into the room, forgoing a greeting like so often. Kate sighed, which only caused her friend's eyebrows to rise even higher.

"I'm fine. Just exhausted. We locked up Jones and he felt the need to spit at me" she offered as an explanation and leaned her hip against an empty autopsy table.

Lanie's inquisitive expression changed more towards compassion.  
>"Did you kick his ass?"<p>

Kate quietly shook her head, too frustrated by the terrible case and her lack of tension-releasing activities with Rick, to offer a smile. "He just wants attention, I'm not gonna give it to him."

She looked to the floor and idly played with the rim of the new shirt she'd changed into.

At her sullen behavior, Lanie's eyebrows lowered until they almost met between her chocolate eyes.

"Seriously, what's gotten into you lately? You seem a little out of it, gurl…"

Kate shrugged it off. "It's nothing."

"It certainly ain't lookin' like nuthin'! Did you and writer boy fight?" she queried and moved closer, rounding in on Kate as if she were a suspect, and fixing her with a glare.

"No, nothing like that, we just…" she trailed off and blushed. How did you explain something like that, even to a dear friend? Lanie's lips pursed at her sudden glow.

"Listen…" Kate lifted a hand to drag it through her hair, but remembered that she had put it up into a ponytail after her bathroom encounter. She let it sink back down. "How about we meet at that cocktail bar you wanted to drag me to, tonight after work, and I'll tell you after a couple of drinks, okay?"

Lanie grinned. "This better be good, Kate!"

For the first time in a while, a genuine broad smile crossed her face.

"Oh, it is. Trust me, it is."

* * *

><p>In a softly glimmering, short black dress and five inch plateau heels, Kate stepped out of the adjoining bathroom and into their bedroom, almost bumping into Rick. She skittered to a halt right in front of his face and grabbed for anything and everything within her reach to regain her balance. Unfortunately, Rick's open button-down slipped through her fingers and the lamp to her right couldn't support her weight. It would have crashed down on top of her, but Rick caught the delicate glass structure in its fall, simultaneously wrapping his other arm around Kate.<p>

Her fingers dug forcefully into his skin as she tried to pull herself up again, all the while cursing rather inventive expletives. He would have ribbed her about it, or complained about the crescent moons her nails were leaving behind, but something in her voice stopped him.

His heart skipped a beat when she took a step back and her legs gave in under her slender body. He caught her once more, wrapping both arms around her and pulling her against him, sending the lamp crashing to the floor, scattering frosted glass fragments everywhere.

"Shit! Shit, ouch shitshitshit ouch!" she exclaimed, her creativity concerning swear words failing her now that her mind was overshadowed by pain.

Rick wasted no time and carefully lifted her up, carrying her to the bed and gently laying her down. She only mildly protested, which catapulted Rick into a small panic attack.

"What is it, where does it hurt?" he asked, his voice hitching, fear and concern etched into his features as he frantically scanned her body with his fingertips and eyes.

"Foot!" she pressed out between clenched teeth. "Ankle…shit."

He slid down the bed and pulled her feet into his lap, carefully and tenderly removing her rather risky footwear.

"You shouldn't wear shoes like this…" he commented and eyed them suspiciously. They were a good bit higher than her usual ones and that was bound to mean something.

"Shut up, Castle!" she snarled and then sighed almost joyously when he had managed to pull them off her feet.

"Ohhh that's better…" she whispered and Rick bit his lip to keep from smiling or making a comment.

His fingers ghosted along her skin, his eyes observing her face for any kind of reaction.

"Does it sill hurt?" he asked quietly and applied a little more pressure. She shook her head, but then hissed when he passed over her left ankle.

He wrapped his hand around the area and let his warmth seep into her, all the while looking into her large eyes.

They appeared to be brown in the dim light of the room, but he knew that they were green in the harsh light of the interrogation room, and showed tiny golden spots in the natural light of the sun. It was one of the things that fascinated him the most about her. He could never tire of looking into her eyes, or guessing what color they would be today.

He slipped his free hand to the sole of her foot and watched in awe when her eyes began to twinkle and darken as the entire atmosphere of the room seemed to change and crackle with a sudden current of electricity. His thumb brushed her pinky toe, where she was slightly ticklish, and she wriggled her foot a little, brushing against his crotch and effectively notifying him of its position.

Rick left his one hand on her hurt ankle and began to massage her foot with the other, pleased when she sighed softly without averting her gaze. He was ever-growing against her other foot and knew from the look in her eyes that she was well aware of the fact.

When he slipped his fingers away from her ankle to join his others in massaging her feet, she bit her lip and moaned, a slight blush creeping up to her cheeks. Involuntarily, he pressed upwards against her foot and she released a throaty gasp, almost a laugh.

Getting bolder, he let his hands wander up her flawless calves, careful to avoid her ankle, and up to just below her knees. Finally giving in to the sensations, she closed her eyes, a small but oh-so-seductive smile playing with the edges of her perfect lips.

They hadn't talked about what had unraveled in the precinct's bathroom earlier that day, but an unspoken agreement between them seemed to state that their bet was still on.

Wanting to take her off guard, now that she couldn't see his movements anymore, he stretched so that her feet wouldn't dig any further into his already full-grown arousal and bent down to let his lips ghost against her smooth skin. Her leg twitched slightly at the unexpected contact though, and made him growl in frustration and need.

His eyes went back to her face, searching for a sign to either stop or move on, but her lids were still closed. Letting his gaze wander shamelessly over her curves in the tight dress, he choked on his own breath when he realized that, from his new angle, he could see her panties. More accurately, the red scrap of fabric that she classified as panties.

At his inarticulate sound, her eyes shot open and suddenly widened even further. Faster than he could react, she pulled her legs out from under him and swung them over the edge of the bed.

"I have to go" she huffed and turned away from him, her face a deep scarlet color that did nothing to stop Rick from thinking about her panties.

"But your foot…" he started as she stood up, but she took a few cautious steps and then strode away. "I'm fine, I'm just going to wear my sandals" she snapped at him and grabbed her purse from the chair by the door. "I'll be late" she complained and left without turning around, leaving a speechless and perplexed and very much aroused Rick in her wake, for the second time that day.

* * *

><p>"So?" Lanie unceremoniously started their conversation when they had settled into the funky-colored bar stools of the new club.<br>Kate shook her head. "Booze first."  
>She turned towards the young man behind the bar and smiled at him. "I'd like sex on the beach" she told him, fluttering her lashes to make sure that his focus was on her and her intentions as dubious as possible.<br>"Don't we all?" he commented and winked at both of the beautiful ladies in front of him.  
>Lanie chuckled. "A cosmo for me."<p>

When the bartender turned away to get their drinks, she looked at Kate, her smile fading just slightly, visible only to the people who knew her well. "You're flirting with the barman" she commented and ever-so-faintly raised her eyebrow. "Are you sure everything is alright with you and writer-boy?"

Kate simply looked at her and scowled a bit. "I…don't know" she decided and Lanie's smile faded to almost gone. "I mean, we're not fighting or anything, it's just…" With a deep sigh she trailed off and they fell into a silent staring contest. And even though Kate was the interrogation-trained detective, Lanie knew her friend too well to fall for her tricks and just kept staring.

Kate was eternally grateful when their drinks arrived. She sucked two long gulps through the straw and made a small noise of pleasure, boldly moaning for good measure when she realized that the attractive barman's eyes were zooming in on her red lips.

"You're not getting any" Lanie concluded with a somewhat baffled expression.  
>Kate choked on her straw. "You're creepy, Lain! How do you do that?"<p>

"Why?" Lanie questioned, completely ignoring Kate's comment. "He's hot, you're hot, you're in a relationship…" Lanie couldn't quite wrap her mind around the news, though she had no doubts that her assumption was right.

"Can he not get it up?" Lanie asked, her tone more than a little incredulous.

"God, Lanie! No…God!" Kate managed to stutter. "Everything's perfectly fine, he's fine, and healthy, and very much "up for it", we just…" She let her head fall into her palms.

"I need more alcohol" she mumbled and took another large gulp.

"There's this bet going on…" she started.

* * *

><p>It was three in the morning when she came home and it didn't surprise her that Rick was waiting on the couch in the living room for her return. Taking their recent case into consideration, the Captain had given them the next day off, a Friday, moving their shifts around so that she was on call on Sunday, but wouldn't have to go in if there were no new body drops.<p>

Lanie had made it pretty clear; they were not going to make it through the long weekend without sex. She had to end this bet, the sooner the better. After the third cocktail, Kate had seen her friend's logic and agreed.

Slipping out of her jacket and dropping it haphazardly to the floor, she giggled when she saw that Rick was blinking heavily, obviously having just woken up after an involuntary nap on the couch.

He slowly propped himself up. _Did she just giggle?_ Kate Beckett did not giggle.  
>"Kate?" he asked, his voice rough with sleep. She smiled joyfully and his eyes narrowed.<br>"Are you drunk?"

"Nooooo!" she responded, swaying slightly as she made her way over to him, crashing down into his lap, her arms anchored around his neck. "Only tipsy…" she purred in a sing-song voice and angled her head, her shining eyes fixed to his lips as she drew closer and closer.

"Kate, as much as I love you, we should…Umhh" he was cut off by her greedy lips and when her tongue pried his mouth open, he could taste the remnants of rum. Unable to resist her overwhelming warmth and the suppleness of her body pressed intimately to his, he lost himself in the kiss. His fingers shot roughly into her hair, digging into her scalp and pulling her head impossibly closer. Their teeth clashed but neither of them cared as lust and passion surged through them and made them lightheaded.

The high-pitched sounds vibrating in her throat shot him into a frenzy and one of his hands left her hair to grab her waist and pull her around so she was straddling him. She rocked her hips against his and he moaned deeply, closing his teeth around her lower lip to nip at her.

Her hands glided down from his neck to his shoulders, digging into his flesh as her hips sped up their erratic movements. He ripped his mouth from hers only to latch on to the sensitive skin of her neck, sucking and biting and licking at her pulse point, so that she clenched her thighs together and gasped.

The short skirt of her dress had ridden up and was bunched around her hips, and when his hand swept down to touch her bare skin, she giggled again.

He stopped abruptly and pushed her away from him, as much as it was possible with her still straddling him.

"Kate, you're drunk" he told her determinedly. "We have to stop."

She pouted and moved closer to him again. "I want you" she husked and started to nibble on his earlobe.

He brought his hands up to cup her face and gently pried her away from him. "Stop" he said gently and pressed a short, sweet kiss to her pouting, swollen lips.

"I know what I'm doing, Rick" she made one last attempt to sway him, but he was already guiding her feet back to the floor and helping her up.

He sighed.

"But I don't."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**_ Please excuse all mistakes, it's 2am here in Berlin. Actually, for that matter, excuse this entire chapter in case it's terrible. I'm tired and exhausted and I battled really hard with this chapter. I hope it's not too bad._


	13. Day 13: Finally

**A/N: **_Finally. The chapter we have all been waiting for._

* * *

><p><strong><span>DAY 13: Finally<span>**

In many societies, the number 13 was a bad omen. Even more so when it was paired with a Friday. In some countries however, Friday the 13th was considered a lucky day.

Friday morning, on the 13th day of their bet, Kate Beckett was aching with need. She was lying in bed, just inches from Rick's barely clad body and so desperate that it simply was too much to bear. She rolled to her side and watched his chest rise and fall in his sleep.

Despite the copious amounts of alcohol she had consumed last night, she was not hung over. Rick had seen to that. He had dragged her into a freezing shower, had toweled her off, forced a nightgown over her head and some pills down her throat, and pulled her to bed with him.

She slowly reached out her long fingers, but stopped mere millimeters from his face.

No, she wasn't going to lose this bet now, not after all that she'd put up with.

In fact, she was pretty sure that she could use her own desperation to win instead. Lanie had given her some ideas last night. It was time to finally end this battle of pride that was driving them both insane.

She rolled to her back and used hands and feet to push the covers to the foot of the bed. The hand that had reached for his face found her own breast. Her nipples hardened at the thought of what she was about to do and a pleased sigh fell from her lips. She made no attempt to suppress it – the whole purpose of this was to be loud.

Her other hand went to her hip, lazily dragging her nails up and down the sensitive skin. Brushing her nightgown out of the way, she rubbed her inner thighs together and hummed low in her throat, with purpose but genuine nonetheless.

Her left hand released her breast and slipped underneath the fabric. Soft fingertips made their way over supple skin and toned muscles, touching and caressing, heating and soothing.

She tweaked her nipple at the same time that her other hand brushed ever so lightly along her wet folds. Her back arched off the mattress and she moaned. Once, twice - partly from touching herself and partly from the exciting thrill of doing it with Rick at arm's length, still asleep but already stirring.

She gave herself time to fully enjoy her body, her skin more sensitive than usual because of her desperation, her aching need. Her breathing was slowly becoming shallow and her moans more and more uninhibited.

Her legs parted as she slicked her fingers with her own wetness and her knee nudged Rick's thigh.

The mewling sound she made when her wet fingertip pressed against her clit was high-pitched enough to cause him to stir beside her, making unintelligible sleepy sounds.

_'Time to step up the game'_, Kate thought and shifted a little on the bed. Enjoying the cold air against her heated skin, she inched her gown up her body, raising her upper half off the sheet to divest completely of the garment. She threw it towards the end of the bed, where it slowly slipped to the floor.

Lying back down, she brought both hands up to cup and squeeze her breasts. Then, before her right trailed lower once more, she took her fingers into her mouth to sheen them with saliva.

When first one, then two of them slipped into her tight core, her eyes closed and her hips bucked into her touch.

Rick rolled to his side and wrapped an arm around her bare middle, the muscles of her abdomen flexing beneath his hand as she continued to pleasure herself.

Not much longer now, Kate thought and increased the speed of her fingers. Her breathing was ragged and her occasional cries loud and joyous. She could be completely silent at this if she had to, but now she made a point of being loud.

Kate's thumb flicked against her clit and her body shuddered. Rick's arm tightened around her and she angled her head to look at his face as he slowly woke up.

His eyes opened lazily and she could watch the dazed sleepiness turn into confusion, realization, then shock, and finally passion. Under his scrutinizing gaze she couldn't keep a light blush from spreading on her cheeks, but her fingers kept up their motion, steadily pumping into her body.

His hands were clenching the sheets, fighting a battle he was destined to lose, but kept on fighting anyway. Kate licked her suddenly dry lips.

She blinked and he was on top of her, stealing her breath with a hard and frustrated kiss.

The initial shock stilled her fingers deep inside her, both of her hands trapped between their bodies as his weight pressed her into the mattress. His tongue and teeth continued to feast on her mouth and she gladly gave him all she had to offer. Her muscles started to tremble around her fingers from the intensity of his kiss and his hands grabbed and clutched at her body as if she were his lifeline.

When they parted for breath, their gazes locked. The passion in her eyes was coupled with seduction. The lust and desperate need in his were proof of her success.

When he placed his forearms to the sides of her face and shifted his weight, she could feel his pulsing erection against her thigh. His pajama pants were all that separated their hot flesh.

Without conscious thought, Kate's fingers resumed their pumping, her thumb rubbing frantically against her clit, her body so close to the edge that she choked on her own breath.

His eyes went wide and he buried his face in her neck, his hips thrusting erratically at her thigh. She exploded around her own fingers, bucking and arching her back, screaming out her release, whimpering and quivering as the tremors shook her body. Her fingers slipped out of her and fell limply to her side as she continued to shake with one of the strongest orgasms she had ever had.

Rick used her moment of dazed bliss to push his pants down to his knees. Before she could realize what was happening, he had rammed himself into her, filling and stretching her in the most delicious way. She gasped and shuddered violently, her internal muscles squeezing him tightly as aftermaths wrecked her body.

He didn't give her time to adjust or come down from her high, setting a hard and fast pace that had them moving up the bed with each strong thrust. This time she came with his name on her lips and him right there with her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **_No, this is not the end. There is more gratuitous smut coming your way! Yay!  
>So…did you like it? Did it disappoint you? Did it make you blush? Did you think it was just meh? Why? Tell me! I want to know!<em>


	14. Day 13: Again

**A/N:**_ I have the best readers in the world. Seriously, guys, THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH! The response to the last chapter has been mindblowing. I feel so incredibly grateful and honored and blessed. I love the Castle fandom._

_BTW If you want to stay informed about my updates or kick my butt when I'm taking too long, feel free to find me on twitter AT MelBerlin.  
><em>

_But now, because you're not reading this for my rambling, without further ado: Chapter 14._

* * *

><p><strong>Day 13: Again<strong>

He collapsed on top of her sweaty body, but was careful not to crush her. A minute passed as they tried to get their breathing down to a normal level. Every time Kate inhaled, her nipples brushed against his chest. Rick nuzzled her cheek, a dazed smile curving his lips against her skin.

"I won the bet" she said after a while and grinned deviously at the ceiling.

"I couldn't care less" he admitted and trailed lazy kisses down the column of her neck.

She sighed and angled her head to give him better access. They were still joined and he was softening inside her, but neither made a move to pull apart.

"Actually, I cheated" she said after another minute of silence and her fingers came up to brush lightly against his sides. He knew her expressions by heart and could tell without looking at her face that her brows were cutely puckered. His insides stirred as he recalled the look in her eyes when he'd woken up and caught her pleasuring herself. He should have known that she would play dirty.

"Oh yeah you did. Glad you're admitting it" Rick agreed with a chuckle and went back to work on the other side of her neck.

"No, not just now…" she replied, but trailed off as he began to suck on that sweet spot behind her ear. "I mean…" she pressed out and gripped his waist when his tongue slipped out to taste the saltiness of her skin. "I mean I cheated earlier."

He pulled away and propped himself up on his forearms to look into her eyes.

"You cheated? When?" He watched her curiously. Not for one second did it cross his mind that she could mean that she cheated _on_ him. He knew that she would never do that. They had both said always, on several occasions, and they meant it.

"You remember last Saturday morning? That dream…wasn't exactly a dream…" she admitted and tried not to blush but failed miserably. Rick's face split into a wide grin and he enthusiastically kissed both of her burning cheeks.

"You…that was…you're going to be the death of me, Kate!" he laughed and watched the embarrassment on her face turn into a shy version of pride.

His eyebrows suddenly shot up.

"That means I won!" he exclaimed and pressed his lips to hers. Her lashes fluttered and then closed.

Kissing down her throat and along her collarbone, he moved a bit and realized that his legs were still trapped in his hastily pulled down pajama pants. When he reached down to get rid of them and subsequently started to pull out of her body, Kate moaned her disapproval and tightly held on to his back. "No, don't go yet" she whispered and he chuckled.

"Can't get enough of me, can you?" he teased and lightly scrapped his teeth against her shoulder. She arched her back into his touch, her internal muscles clenching around him briefly, and he noticed once again that her appetite was insatiable.

Rick's hand left the pillow by her head and slid down to cup her breast. Her nipples hardened instantaneously.

"The bet was a stupid idea," she murmured, her hands traveling up his back and gripping his shoulders.

"Yeah" he agreed and smiled, his almost limp form slipping out of her.

"Rick" she gasped in protest, but he was already moving away, his open mouth gliding down to her free breast, his tongue slipping out to tease one nipple as his fingers pinched the other. She made a mewling sound that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

He nipped his way across her soft flesh.

"What… do we… do now?" he managed to ask around her hot skin.

"Make up for lost time…" she whispered and threaded her fingers through his short hair, anchoring him to her.

"Why, my dear detective!" he whispered back, his breath tickling her.

"I never thought I'd hear you say something like that. But oh well, if you insist…"

He leered at her and she confidently smiled back. Pushing him slightly backwards, she sat up, only to reach down and aid him in ridding his pants.

"I insist" she grinned when they settled back onto the mattress.

"You do, don't you?" he said and his hand reached down to cup her heat, wasting no time and dipping a finger into her. She squeezed her eyes shut and released a shaky breath.

"Oh God. Oh yes."

His touch was shallow, barely there, but her two orgasms before had sensitized her nerves. Her fingers laced into his hair again and pushed his head down. She wanted, needed more.

Rick didn't reject her demand per se, but took his sweet time getting his mouth to where she wanted it to be. He loved it when she was squirming, slowly getting impatient. His tongue drew tantalizing circles around her breast before he sucked the peak into his wonderfully hot mouth. He repeated his torture on the other side, his finger all the while inside her, but only ever so slightly moving, providing not nearly enough friction for her liking.

"I missed this" he spoke against the underside of her breast, nipping at the globe, then soothing it with a talented flick of his tongue.

"Yes" was her only response. She wasn't really in a state of mind anymore to reply coherently.

"I missed you" he admitted, but she wasn't in the mood for his sweetness and roughly pushed his head further down her body. He dropped a kiss to her belly button, trailed a line further down, but then deviated from his assigned path and kissed her hipbone, her thigh, everywhere but where she ached for him.

When he sucked on the inside of her thigh, she bucked off the bed, but he firmly pressed her back down. Only reluctantly she relaxed and he rewarded her with a deeper thrust of his finger, his mouth still on her thigh.

Kate was panting and sweating, but she managed to concentrate and string several words together. "You…ohh…are giving me…hickey…"

He smiled against her skin, but didn't release her until he was sure that she would indeed be marked afterwards.

"You're not going to leave this apartment for a long while" he promised and finally, finally let his tongue swipe along her folds. She mewled and moaned and he added a second finger and licked her clit and grabbed her waist and pulled her closer all at once and it was great and enough and too much and she shattered underneath him because she couldn't take it anymore. But he didn't stop or slow down and neither did her tremors and it dragged on, and dragged on until she forgot her own name.

He pulled his fingers out of her and drew his mouth away and she sighed. Rick licked his own fingers clean and watched her shake with occasional aftershocks, her eyes still closed and her head bent back, pressed into the pillow.

"You're beautiful" he whispered, but she couldn't respond yet. He kissed his way back up her body, slowly, gently, not arousing but soothing her. The thunder of her heart threatened to burst her ribcage, so he took his time and paid homage to every millimeter of her until he didn't have to fear for her health anymore.

Then he kissed her mouth, a sensual and all-consuming kiss that made her toes curl. He could still do that to her.

"I missed the way you taste…" he sighed when they broke apart for air. She kissed the corner of his mouth, his chin, his neck and he buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply.

"And your smell…god, that turns me on!" he groaned, and to underline his statement he thrust his hips against hers, proving that he was indeed fully erect again.

"Already?" she whispered incredulously into his ear, her voice higher than usual and still a little breathless. He took another lungful of cherry-scented air and then slightly pulled back.

"What? It's been 20 minutes, my darling detective! You know that's long enough for me" he commented and winked at her. Then the teasing left his expression a little and he was just going to tell her that she didn't have to feel obliged to do anything, that she should take her time, for as long as she wanted, but she shut him up by rolling from underneath him and flipping them over.

"I missed you, too" she confessed softly and slid down his body, sitting up until his tip nudged her opening. His hands moved up to her waist, his thumbs lightly caressing her creamy skin.

"Slow, Kate. Slow" he told her and then neither of them could speak as she lowered herself down, taking him inside, inch by inch, torturously slow.

His hands weren't guiding her, merely supporting her as she rose and fell above him, her strong thighs performing their task almost effortlessly, even after an hour of exhausting sex. She was tight and wet in the most delicious of ways and his hips automatically met each of her thrusts.

When they had found a slow rhythm, one of his hands slid up to palm her breast and she sighed in pleasure.

After a while she tilted her hips, falling forwards to brace herself on his strong shoulders, and the new angle was so perfect for both of them that they moaned in unison. Her fingers dug into his skin when he went deeper than before and his hips stuttered with the impact of her desire. Damp hair stuck to her forehead and he reached up to brush it away. She kissed his palm, an intimate gesture that turned him on even more than any of the other things she was doing to him.

It wasn't long until he could feel himself coiling, but he didn't think that she would be able to orgasm yet again, not so shortly after shattering so completely, so he opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"Kate?" he croaked and she met his gaze. The glow in her eyes mesmerized him and he couldn't help but pull her down to him. He kissed her hungrily, their hips speeding up without a conscious decision from either of them.

He bit down on her bottom lip and released it, only to ravish her jaw and suck her earlobe into his mouth.

She cried out and he realized that maybe she wasn't so far from orgasm after all.

He clutched her tighter and drove into her with a fury that made him see stars. She pulled back until he was almost all the way out of her and then pressed down on him, over and over again, her nails marking his skin, the pain mixing with the pleasure into a wild, ecstatic force.

Her breathing was erratic and the noise she was making was a pleading whine, but she couldn't help it. Thirteen days without sex and then three orgasms in one hour were not situations her body was used to, though the latter occurred far more often that the first. Her inner muscles fluttered, but it almost hurt because she couldn't find release.

Rick seemed to read her thoughts as he loosened his grip on her and helped her raise herself up. She moved back until she was sitting on him again, and then carefully brought her knees up so that she was completely open for him. He knew what she needed and his fingers found her clit immediately.

A ray of sunlight filtered through the blinds and illuminated her figure above him. His breath caught in his throat and his thrusts became irregular.

"Kate" he groaned. "Kate, I…I'm going to…" And then he came, hard and powerful, and she clenched around him and half laughed, half sobbed with joy when finally her tension released into violent shudders.

They collapsed again, this time with her on top, but she rolled off him and stretched luxuriously on the bed. She drew in a shaky lungful of air and exhaled with a deep sigh. "Amazing" she whispered.

He turned his head to take in her satiated smile and pulled her sweat-slicked body closer to his. "I love you, too."


	15. Day 13: Indulgence

**A/N:** _Unusual Warning: This chapter is sweet. In many senses of the word. Also: I will eventually reply to your awesome reviews. Eventually.  
><em>

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><p><strong><span>DAY 13: Indulgence<span>**

They must have fallen asleep, because the next thing Kate became aware of was Rick's arm tightening slightly around her waist and his breath against the base of her neck, a slow, comfortable pattern of warm air. She turned to look at him and he greeted her by peppering her face with small kisses.

"We should probably shower" he suggested, nuzzling her cheek.

She hummed pleasantly and leaned into his touch, until the sound of her stomach growling suddenly broke the silence. They looked at each other and shared a synchronized smile.

"Let's eat first" she decided. "If we want to continue this, I need some calories I can burn."

He kissed her bare shoulder for a last time before he got up.

"I like the way you're thinking."

He started to sleepily stroll out of the room and she sat up and bit her lip, eyeing his naked butt appreciatively. When he had just reached the doorway, she loudly cleared her voice.

He turned around, raised his eyebrow, gave her tousled appearance a once-over, and struck a bodybuilder pose for her. Kate almost doubled over with laughter. When she had collected herself a little bit, she dared to meet his gaze again.

"What?" he asked and unashamedly did another nude pose for her. She laughed so freely and joyously that he couldn't help but join in. Even his writer brain had no words to describe her smile. If he had to compare it to anything, he would say that it was golden and colorful like sunshine and a rainbow at night and addictive like chocolate and heroin but better and…no, it still wouldn't come close to describing her smile.

"Y-You-hoo..uh..should…" she stopped to suck in a deep breath and swipe a tear from her eye. "Never mind. Just leave" she ordered and shooed him out of the room with her long, slender fingers. He didn't even ask what that was all about, just turned and walked out with a mild shaking of his head and a dreamy smile tugging at his lips.

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><p>When she came into the kitchen a minute later in her panties and Rick's used shirt, he was standing behind the counter with different pans in his hands, trying to figure out what to make for breakfast. When she walked up to his side, she was pleased to see that he had found fresh boxers somewhere. She wouldn't have been able to concentrate on anything had he been naked still.<p>

"Pancakes? Waffles? Eggs?" he asked and she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply to find out what her stomach was calling for.

"Waffles" she decided and opened her eyes again.

"Your wish is my command" he said and mimicked a small bow before turning to the fridge and getting out what they needed.

They worked in quiet collaboration, Kate setting the table and heating some chocolate sauce in the microwave while Rick busied himself with the batter. When there was nothing left for her to do, she retreated into the bathroom.

She returned shortly after and the icy glare she was fixing him with promised no good. He gulped as she stepped closer and pulled the oversized shirt up to reveal her thigh.

His expression changed in an instant; his grin threatened to split his face in half.

"I gave you a hickey!" he exclaimed proudly, as if he had just saved the planet from alien invaders, cured all lethal illnesses or won the lottery.

"Richard freaking Castle, this is not a thing to be happy about!" she threatened him and jabbed an angry finger at his chest. He smiled on and didn't even pretend to be intimidated by her.

She scowled.

"Ricky-boy…" she said sweetly and his face fell. "Do you want a repeat performance of this morning?"she asked coyly, bit her lower lip and batted her lashes at him. "Or would you rather not be able to ever perform something like that, ever, again?"she said, equally as sweet, but this time with the added background noise of her knuckles cracking as she flexed her fingers. His face was white and his eyes automatically fell down to the body parts she was threatening to extricate him from. She grinned triumphantly.

"That's better. Now feed me, or else you're out of luck."

He released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and turned his attention back to his waffles. She frowned when she saw that something was still heating in the microwave, although the chocolate sauce was already on the table.

"Did you buy that dulce stuff again?" she asked, her face morphed into a grimace of distaste.

"Dulce de leche" he confirmed without turning around. "It's a specialty and it's delicious! Almost as good as my Smorelettes."

She rolled her eyes as she opened the microwave and used an oven mitt to retrieve the hot, blubbering bowl and place it on the table. "I don't know where your taste buds are located…" she murmured, more to herself than to him.

"Hey, I heard that!" he protested as she stirred the chocolate sauce with a wooden spoon.

"They're on my tongue" he whispered, suddenly right by her ear, startling her so much that she shrieked uncharacteristically and abruptly turned around, hitting him square across the chest with the chocolaty spoon.

"God, don't do that to me, Castle! You can't creep up on me like that. I'm sorry, I just didn't hear you. It's my cop reaction, we were trained to…"  
>"Ouch! That's hot! Can't you pay attention to what you're doing with your hands! This is going to burn into my skin, you've branded me and now I'm going to be…" they both rambled on, their string of words colliding until they suddenly both shut up and just looked at each other with large, helpless eyes. A dollop of hot chocolate sauce was slowly running down his bare chest. She was clutching the wooden spoon so tightly that her knuckles were white. They each took a deep breath.<p>

When she made a step towards him, he took one backwards and held up his hands as if he was afraid she'd do more damage. "Rick, I only… I want to…just…" each time she took a step in his direction, he moved away from her. She turned around and placed the spoon back on the table and he seemed to relax a little. She advanced again and this time, he stayed, but kept his hands up as a defense.

"Please, let me…"

She took his hands into hers and lowered them, running her fingers up his arms until she grasped his shoulders. And then her hot mouth closed around the chocolate on his chest.

All his defenses broke and he melted underneath her sinful touch. His hands came up and fisted in her hair when her tongue licked away the sauce and tore a grunt from his lips. She sucked on his skin until there was none of the sticky substance left and then grazed her teeth across his muscles, his flat nipple… He groaned and pulled her up so that he could devour her mouth with his, their tongues fighting and gliding and their lips aggressively moving, molding so perfectly into each other that their world began to spin. She tasted like sin and eternity and chocolate and he never wanted to let her go. The heat of their kiss drew them closer to each other, like magnets, until there was no room left between them.

Slowly the fire glowed down until it wasn't so much a blaze, but rather a simmering flame, and she pulled away with a feline purr of enjoyment.

"Am I forgiven?" she asked and purposefully lowered her head so that she could look up at him between her thick lashes. He thought his heart was surely going to jump out of his chest if she kept that up.

"Let's eat" he growled, but in contrast to his words closed the minute distance between them once more for a shorter, though not less arousing kiss.


	16. Day 13: Encounter

**A/N:** _I hope you guys know what dulce de leche is. If you don't, google it RIGHT NOW._

_This chapter is dedicated to the incredible Manuxinhace, who plants so many plot bunnies in my head that I don't know what to do with myself. I am proud to call you my friend._

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><p><strong>DAY 13: Encounter<strong>

Against all odds, they did manage to eat. Their hunger for something edible was greater than their hunger for each other, at least for the moment.

It didn't stop Kate from running her bare foot up and down his calves, or Rick from stealing a kiss every time she wasn't chewing, but they did eventually finish the waffles.

Sated, but only in the culinary sense of the word, they stood up to put away the dishes. He caught her wrist at the sink and pulled her into him.

"I don't remember giving you permission to wear my clothes" he wondered out loud, put on a frown and played with the collar of his shirt that she was wearing.  
>"Oh, I'm sorry" she answered, pretending she didn't know that he loved her in his shirts more than in anything else. "I didn't know you'd be against it, but if that's the case, I'll return them immediately" she said and took pride in the seriousness of her voice and her blank face.<p>

"Please be so kind" he answered, motioning to her shirt, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. Kate raised her arms in the small space between their bodies, "accidentally" brushing his chest as she started undoing the shirt, button by teasing little button. When she had completed her task, the valley between her breasts just barely visible through the slit of the opened shirt, she hooked her fingers into the waistband of his boxers, lightly caressing his skin. She knew exactly what she had to do to drive him mad.

Rick, who had still been fidgeting with the collar, pretended to be unimpressed, pushed the shirt down her shoulders and methodically freed her arms from it, causing her teasing fingers to slip away from his underwear.

"Thank you," he said politely, folded up the shirt and turned around, leaving her bare-breasted and speechless at the sink. She recovered quickly and in a brief childish outburst jumped at his back, clinging to him with her arms around his neck and her long legs around his waist. He slightly tumbled forward, but caught himself at the table, sending the folded shirt sailing towards the floor. Other than a breathy "Oof!" he made no sound, just wrapped a strong arm around her leg. He grabbed the bowl of chocolate sauce with the other hand and started to walk, seemingly unperturbed, as if he was carrying her piggyback every other day.

He sat the bowl down on the counter next to the half-empty bowl of dulce de leche and held up the spoon for her to lick clean. She changed her hold on his neck so that one arm was free, grabbed the spoon from him and smeared the chocolate down his neck.

"Kate" he gasped and tried to get the spoon back from her, but she held on to it tightly as she began to suck and lick on his neck.

His moan vibrated all throughout her body and she chuckled against his skin, nipping her way up to his earlobe to draw more sounds from him.

He decided to switch tactics and grabbed her thighs, running his hands up and down her smooth, sensitive skin and softly tickling the backs of her knees. She pulled away and lowered herself to the ground and he immediately turned them around, pressing her into the counter and capturing her lips in an all-consuming kiss. The spoon slipped out of her hand, clattering when it hit the floor.

His tongue still teasing hers, he reached behind her, blindly looking for something, surprising her when a dollop of warm and viscous dulce de leche hit her shoulder. His mouth made a wet path from her lips down her long neck to her shoulder, his clean hand lacing into her hair to tilt her head back and her knees buckled, prompting her to lean against the counter to keep herself up. She realized that her plan to seduce him had quickly backfired and had to admit that the sounds he was eliciting from her were louder than the ones she had been able to tease out of him.

Rick dipped his finger into the dulce again and drew a heart on the skin of her chest, right above the place where her real one was beating erratically, and when he started to lick it off she didn't know which feeling was strongest; love and lust were running through her veins in equal parts.

His lips formed a seal around her nipple and sucked hard and she clawed at his back in a desperate effort to stop from slipping down against the counter. The strangled cry she gave him would have normally made her feel weak, but all she was conscious of were thoughts of "More!", "Yes!" and "Oh Fuck!".

His tongue left her breast and their wild gazes met, his hand snaking out again for the bowl of liquid torture. Before his coated fingers could touch her tingling skin though, she grabbed his wrist and brought the digits to her mouth, sucking and licking until he couldn't take it anymore and hauled her away from the counter.

He almost threw her onto the table, but instead of complaining she reached out to push his boxers down. He stepped out of them and leaned down to caress her breasts and dip his tongue into her navel. Biting into her curves and soothing the spots with his talented hot mouth, he kissed his way up her body. When he reached her mouth, she pulled him down on her, his erection pressing into all the right places against her panties.

They both groaned at the realization that there was still a piece of fabric separating them and Rick pulled away to rid her of it. She pushed him backwards until she could slide off the table, swatting at his hands when they went to her hips. He held his breath and gripped the edges of the tabletop when she went down on her knees in front of him.

She looked up at him and smiled, angel and devil in one person, and trailed a finger down his shaft.

Her mouth closed around his tip and he had to fight hard to stay in control of his movements. She took him in a little deeper, humming softly, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Her thumb and forefinger were forming a tight ring around him as she pumped up and down.

"Shit, Kate!" he gasped, but she only teased him more, swirling her tongue and licking down his length and guiding her hands around his hip to grab his ass. When his body involuntarily thrust forwards, he almost choked on air and immediately pulled back, cupping her face with a surprising tenderness and guiding her up to her feet to kiss her.

She stretched out against him, her pert nipples pressed to his chest and her heat impossible to ignore where their lower bodies rubbed against each other.

Her hands fisted in his hair and she bit down on his lower lip, her tongue slipping out to lap at the marks and glide into his mouth, devouring him, savoring him as if he were a thousand times more delicious than the dessert he had licked from her body.

He didn't realize that she had turned them around until his back hit the table and she pushed him down on top of it. Quickly divesting herself of her panties, she climbed onto the table and straddled him. Reaching between them, she took him into her hands and positioned him at her entrance. Their gazes locked and none of them dared to breathe.

He slipped into her with ease, but she still stopped for a second to adjust to his size.

"You missed me too, haven't you?" he asked teasingly, a little proud of himself that he could form a coherent sentence whilst seated deeply within her.

"A little" she gasped out and started to rock above him, the rhythm she was setting anything but sweet and slow. He was already close, but from his position beneath her with his legs dangling off the table, he had no leverage to meet her thrusts.

Collecting whatever strength he had in his body, he sat up and cradled her against him, the sudden change of angle causing her to cry out and spasm around him, her fingers digging into his back so forcefully that she was drawing blood.

"Rick!" she whimpered, burying her head into the crook of his neck and pressing her lips against his pulse. "Oh God, Rick!"

When she started to relax against him he stood up cradling her to him, still joined, and turned her around so she was lying on the table. It made her the perfect height so he remained standing and brushed a strand of hair from her face as she came down from her orgasm.

When her legs wrapped around his hips, the heels of her feet digging into his butt, he knew she was ready again. After an initial slow retreat and thrust, he gave no warning and drove himself into her, speeding up quickly until he was pounding into her hard and fast, over and over again.

Her teeth were gritted together, but he could tell from the look in her almost black eyes that she wasn't in pain.

When her hands came up to cup and squeeze her own breasts, Rick swore under his breath and grabbed her knees, pulling her legs up until her feet were by his shoulders. She came instantaneously, clamping down hard around him and milking every last bit of him as he released into her.

Her legs limply sank down at his sides and because his own just couldn't support his weight anymore, he slipped out of her and took a deep breath. Sliding one hand beneath her shoulder and the other around her waist, Rick slowly pulled her up.

Together they tumbled the three steps to the nearest chair and he collapsed on it, pulling Kate into his lap.

He pressed soft kisses to her temple, her cheeks and her lips and she sighed in pleasure, her hands running along his not yet shaven jaw as they both came back to themselves, their thundering hearts completely in synch.

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><p><strong>AN:**_ Oh and yes, the title of this chapter really is meant to be a very, very terrible pun. Excuse me, please.  
>And if you liked or disliked something in particular, feel free to tell me about it via review. Don't be shy. ;)<br>_


	17. Day 13: Wet

**DAY 13: Wet**

"We should really shower now" she said after a while, her fingers drawing idle patterns on his chest.

"But I love it when you're sweaty and dirty and smelling like sex" he complained, not really sure whether his legs would carry him all the way to the shower.

"You know very well that I can shower and still be dirty, Mister Castle" she teased and his arms tightened around her midriff.

"I do know indeed, Miss Beckett."

Kate let her finger brush against the hollow of his throat. "_Detective_ Beckett to you, Mister Castle" she admonished and he growled, playfully nipping at her shoulder. She laughed and he felt as if he loved her more every time she did. If loving her more than he did right now was even possible, he added as an afterthought.

"Come on, let's go" she said and slipped out of his lap. Taking one look around the mess they had made in the kitchen, she decided that the clean-up could wait and left chocolate stains, cooking utensils and scattered underwear behind her as she made her way into the bathroom.

He sat and watched her hips sway from side to side, smiling dreamily because she was so comfortably naked in his living room. In moments like these, Richard Castle didn't have a care in the world.

"You coming or what?" she called from around the corner and he jumped up to scramble after her.

Their team work in the shower was as practiced and effective as their work in the precinct when they were building theory together. He simultaneously kissed her and soaped up her hair and while he rinsed it out she washed his chest. They switched from side to side in a delicate dance under the spray, perfected during early mornings when it would save time to shower together. If they didn't get distracted, that was.

Today they took their time. For 13 days now they had showered separately and even though they had just made love, the water added another layer to the sensual experience of skin on skin and heightened their awareness of each other.

His fingers ghosted up her sides, worshipping her body. He traced the butterfly on her lower hip. _"Why did you choose this motive?" _he'd asked her as she'd once told him about the spur-of-the-moment decision she'd secretly made when she was 17. _"I don't know, I've always had a thing for butterflies"_ she had answered and smiled.

Smiling at the memory, Rick caressed the delicate figure, the shape of the little wings.

He let his hands travel over every inch of her stomach, her strong back, her slender arms, sliding against skin that had long been rinsed of any remnants of soap, just for the sake of touching her.

And although his hands steered clear of anything overtly arousing, Kate knew that the wetness between her legs had nothing to do with the water.

She returned his touch with equal tenderness, occasionally dropping a kiss to any body parts that were close enough. Kate smiled when she licked drops of water off his shoulder and he sighed.

If the obvious physical response she could sense against her abdomen was any indication, her caresses were affecting him as much as his affected her.

He took her by surprise though, asking if they should leave the shower and hop into the Jacuzzi instead. "My legs would thank you" he added and she mirrored his smirk.  
>"You really are getting old, aren't you?" she teased and he responded by snatching her hand and guiding it down to wrap around his swelling erection.<br>"Not too old though" he grinned and wriggled his eyebrows. She bit her lower lip and gave him a good stroke before turning the water off and pushing him out of the shower, where he made wet footprints until he reached the stack of fresh towels.

Rick threw one over to Kate and she caught it one-handedly.

"How long will it take to fill the tub?" she asked, wrapping the towel around her wet hair, finishing just in time to catch the next one he threw.  
>"About 20 minutes" he answered as he dried off his feet and legs.<p>

"Good. That's plenty of time" she murmured as she walked past him, into his bedroom.

"Time for…wha…what did you have in mind?" he stuttered and followed her out, dragging his towel along, but not bothering to tie it around his waist.

She turned and gave him a mysterious, challenging smile. "Why don't you run up and start the water and when you come back I'll show you what I have in mind?"

Rick bolted away as if Hannibal, Voldemort and Satan himself were chasing him. He lost the wet towel at the bottom of the stairs.

He returned without it in under a minute, panting and bracing himself on the door frame to catch his breath. Kate was standing by the wall mirror, brushing her hair, a towel wrapped securely around her body.  
>"What…what have you…you…" he wheezed and she laughed and shook her head in amusement.<p>

"Sit down over there" she instructed and motioned to the edge of the bed. She put down her brush and climbed onto the bed behind him. He strained his neck to see what she was doing, but she firmly put her hands to both sides of his head and forced him to turn around again so he was facing away from her. When her hands came to rest on his shoulders and her thumbs ghosted up and down his neck, she could feel him suck in a breath.

When she gently started to knead his muscles, he released the air on a deep humming sigh.

Her warm palms worked out the knots expertly and his breathing slowly returned to a normal level. Her fingers softly swept up and down his spine and she could feel him relax into her touch. "You're insanely good at this" he confessed and slightly arched his back when her hands stroked down to the curve of his ass. Inch by inch the tension and soreness left his body, minutes flying by as she massaged his back and he occasionally murmured his approval. She knew his body very well and it wasn't the first time she did this for him either. He chuckled softly when he realized that, except for one time when her massage had lulled him into sleep after a case-related nightmare, all her treatments had ended in them having sex.

It wasn't surprising at all, considering the softness of her hands and the wicked things she could do with them.

The unexpected touch of her lips against the nape of his neck sent tingles of electricity across his skin. Her hands caressed his upper arms as her mouth dropped short, light kisses all along his shoulders. When she had warmed the strong muscles of his arms, her hands swept down and intertwined with his just as her tongue slipped out to taste the skin of his neck.

"Kate" he whispered and she opened her eyes that had fallen shut some time ago. She sucked his skin into her mouth and he moaned. She untangled their hands, reached around his body and let her nails scrape along his thighs.

"Kate" he gasped again and she bit into the tender flesh of his neck, her hands brushing higher and higher on his thighs.

When she felt his head turn she suddenly pulled away, receding a couple of inches on the bed to put a physical distance between them. The half-smile tugging at the corners of her slightly open mouth, she could hide, but the gleam in her eyes spoke volumes.

"We're even now" she said and when his brows furrowed and he looked at her in confusion, she pointed to the pink spot on his neck. "You have a hickey" she revealed and the smile she had barely repressed broke free.

She jumped up from the bed and bolted for the door faster than he had time to raise his hand to his neck.

"I think the time is up" she laughed and disappeared.

"God, woman, the things you do to me!" he muttered and clumsily stood up to follow her.

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><p><strong>AN:**_ This is one of those chapters again. I have no idea what to think of it. Basically, my own mind turned on me and none of the things I wanted to happen in this chapter actually happened. Instead, you get lots of stuff that I hadn't even planned on._

_The ball's in your court now: Tell me whether it was good or not, pretty please. I'll even be nice and respond (if you have PMs turned on...)_


	18. Day 13: Tease

**A/N:** _This one got out of hand again. But I don't think you will complain ;) _  
><em>Thank you for everyone that has ever read this story or reviewed or added it to any kind of list or promoted it somewhere. This is for you guys. Enjoy it! :)<em>

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><p><strong>DAY 13: Tease<strong>

They cautiously eased into the hot, relaxing water together and almost moaned at how good it felt. Jets on the floor of the small Jacuzzi produced tiny bubbles that tickled their skin. The massage jets on the sides were turned off for now, but they planned on putting them to good use as soon as they got acclimated to the high temperature.

They sat side by side, enveloped in the steam that rose from the surface. Kate's head fell to Rick's shoulder with a sigh, his arm wrapping around her. When she had first found out that he had a Jacuzzi in the loft, she had been put off by the idea. She'd thought of it as a rich, snobbish thing to buy for your own home, but the moment Rick had finally convinced her to try it out and she'd slipped into the luxurious, softly massaging warmth, she had changed her opinion entirely.

Now, it was one of her favorite places. It was big enough for four people, with two wide benches on each side. If only two occupied it, each person could rest their feet on the opposite bench and relax even more. The position was perfect to read a book and even more comfortable than her old tub.

His hand on her stomach stirred her out of her reverie; the fingers that had been softly brushing against her side slowly made their way lower. His erection had – in varying stages – been present ever since they had stepped out of the shower, and Kate was actually quite impressed that he had made it through all that time without advancing on her.

"I can restrain myself if I want to" he answered and his ability to read her thoughts never ceased to surprise her. A thought occurred to her and her eyebrows rose in challenge.

"Oh really?" she asked and let her hand travel up and down his thigh. He swallowed.

"Aren't the last thirteen days proof of it?"

She only smiled coyly, her lower lip sucked behind her teeth. Teasingly Kate slipped out of his grasp, settling on the opposite bench and putting her legs up at each side of his hips. One foot brushed purposefully against his sensitive hipbone, her eyes gleaming dangerously as she watched his jaw clench. She reached out for the controls and turned on the side jets.

He could only gulp and clench his fists when she leaned back and relaxed, breathing in deeply, arching her back and thrusting her breasts forwards, moaning louder than necessary as the jets worked the knots of stress and tension out of her back.

Her foot slid over his thigh and into his lap and he gasped when she pressed intimately against him.

"Kate" he called out and she met his gaze again.

"Rick" she answered teasingly, her voice throaty and smooth, her foot travelling along his length and stomach. His control snapped and he swatted her foot away so that he could lean over, grab her and pull her against him, his mouth crashing down and devouring hers as he hauled her into his lap. Her groan vibrated through his entire body and when she rocked against him, their hot centers sliding deliciously against each other, he couldn't hold back his own sound of pleasure.

"Is that what you call restraining yourself?" she asked huskily as they pulled apart for air. He nibbled on her earlobe.  
>"You're a tease" he growled and slid his hands around to her breasts. She rocked against him again and he let one hand trail a path down her body until his thumb brushed against her clit. She pulled his face back to hers and he swallowed her moans as he worked her up to a peak. Their lips pressed passionately against each other and his tongue flicked out to tease hers, mimicking the motions of his fingers below. Just as she was teetering on that wonderful edge, he broke the kiss and drew his hands away and placed them on her waist.<p>

"No, don't stop" she protested and tried to slide her center along his shaft, but his hands stopped her and held her firmly out of reach.

"More" she whispered and started to pepper his face with kisses, nibbling on his earlobe to distract him. He angled his head to give her better access to his neck, but made no move to release her from the tension he had so expertly created.

"Touch me, Rick" she pleaded, not caring about dignity or the like anymore. "I just need you. Oh god, fuck me" she moaned, playing out the "dirty" card to break his resolve. "Take me, fuck me, I need you" she tried to seduce him, but he was stronger than that and she both hated and loved him for it.

When his hands only teased at the swell of her bottom, his grip firm but not as low as she wanted, she realized that he wasn't going to give her what she so desperately craved. He was completely taken aback when she pushed away from him and turned towards the opposite bench again, settling down with her back to him and her front to the wall, her legs spread wide and her arms braced on the edge of the Jacuzzi. His eyes almost popped out of his head.

Her head fell back with a low groan and he realized in shock that she had positioned herself so that the stream of the jets directly aimed at her clit.

"Kate" he moaned and stood up behind her, his hands coming up to wrap around her waist and cup her breast as he pressed his body into her back. "God Kate. Fuck."

She shivered wildly and bucked her hips as the strong beam drove her closer to the edge and Rick finally helped her along and pinched her nipple as he held her tightly.

She screamed and pressed back against him, her hips arching to get a better angle for the jet.

"Turn it…ohhhh shit…turn it up…ahhh…stronger" she gasped and blindly fumbled for the controls, just out of her reach. He released her breast and found the controls, turning the jets up another level. She started to whimper in response, her legs quivering as she tried to stay upright.

"Have you…have you done this before?" Rick pressed out, his fingers finding her nipple again, rolling and pinching in a rhythm he knew she enjoyed.

"Yes!" she screamed. "Yes! Gaahhh!"  
>"Without me?" he croaked.<p>

But he didn't get a response and could only hold her when her entire body tensed up and she screamed out her release like never before, her muscles spasming and shaking until she collapsed against him.

"Ohhhhh" was the only thing she could say as tingles of hot electricity continued to shoot through her clit and lower body. In a presence of mind that surprised her, Rick turned off the jets.

"That was so hot. Shit, you are amazing" he whispered into her ear as he held her and let her catch her breath. "I can't believe the fucking whirlpool can give you a harder orgasm than I can…" he wondered out loud, but it sounded mesmerized rather than jealous.

"It's just…different stimulation" she explained as she turned her head to press a kiss to his jaw.

She relaxed into his strong hold and became aware of his erection, insistent against her butt cheeks.

"Do you have a condom?" she asked softly and laid her hands on top of his arms encircling her waist.

"No. Why? We haven't used one in ages" he queried and kissed her wet shoulder. They were both clean and Kate took great care of remembering her pill.

"Yes" she agreed, "but here in the water, it's different."

"We don't use them in the shower" he argued, not because he disagreed or didn't respect her request, but because he knew he'd have to get out of the water and even out of the room to retrieve the condoms that were stashed by his bedside. He knew that she just didn't like it when he came in the water, but…

"God Kate, you just came, there is already stuff floating around here that shouldn't be and…" he trailed off when he noticed her expression. Was she actually blushing? After all of this?

"Kate?" he said softly, but she kept avoiding his gaze.

"I just…Ineedaminute" she mumbled quietly and he almost didn't understand her. But he did, and his eyebrows shot up in realization.  
>"Oh. Of course. Yeah. Of course" he murmured and tried to soothe her embarassment by pressing another kiss to her shoulder.<p>

Those situations were usually reversed. He couldn't remember Kate even so much as slowing down after an orgasm, but today must have really worn her out.

He settled her down onto the bench and dropped a sweet kiss to her temple before he slipped away to find some condoms and give her time to return to planet earth.


	19. Day 13: Heat

**A/N:** _I'm sorry this is a little later than planned. I hope the content makes up for the wait ;)_

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><p><strong>DAY 13:<strong> **Heat**

When Rick returned to the bathroom, Kate had turned the jets on again and was letting them soothe her back. Her eyes were closed and her face was relaxed and glowing, from both the Jacuzzi and her orgasm. Steam was still rising from the water, fogging the mirror and window, giving the room a thrilling feeling of wickedness. Kate's breasts were half beneath, half above the water surface, the nipples hardened by the tickling bubbles of the jets, daunting droplets clinging to her skin, teasing him and taking his breath away.

She looked like a goddess to him, and the thought that she was his, that he was allowed to touch her and taste her, made him eager and nervous even after all this time.

He sat down on the edge of the tub, his feet dangling into the water, and her eyes slowly opened. He watched her in amusement, his desire ever growing as her eyes shot from side to side, zooming in and zooming out, focusing on one object, then the next as she scanned the room.

"You're really out of it" he commented with a breathy chuckle and raised the condom wrapper to his teeth to rip it open.

"Come again?" she asked in a daze and his laughter echoed off the bathroom tiles.

"Oh yes, I'll make sure you come again" he leered, but instead of the eye roll he had anticipated at his intentional misunderstanding, she blushed and wetted her lips.

Detective Kate Beckett didn't blush often. Rick lowered the condom to his side.

"Are you alright, Kate?"

His concern only intensified her blush. She rose from the bench and moved over to him, resting her hands on his knees as she looked up at him, her fingers nervously tracing patterns on his skin as she fought for the right words.

For once he couldn't read her expression. It changed too fast; every time he thought he had it figured out, her look shifted completely. He was pretty sure that she wanted to tell him that they should take it slow, that she was blushing and uncomfortable because he basically had blue balls and she thought she couldn't give him what he needed. But the next second she looked like she wanted to eat him up, ride him hard and fast and do things to him that even his writer brain wouldn't dare to imagine. Then she looked dreamy, almost romantic, so full of love that he just wanted to kiss her and hold her in his arms.

He didn't know what to say, only blinked in confusion when she reached out to turn off the jets once more. She swatted the condom wrapper from his hands and moved closer into the v of his legs, and he was rendered completely speechless.

When she then proceeded to bend down and delicately kiss the plump head of his erection, he could only groan.

"Kate…you don't" he gasped as she let her tongue swirl over him, her short nails digging into his thighs just above his knees. "Stop... I can't…" he inarticulately pressed out, but her only response was to take him into her hot perfect little mouth. He was so turned on from watching her come, he knew that it would only be a matter of short minutes if she were to continue her titillating game.

"Mm-mm" she hummed against him and his hands clenched to fists on the edge of the Jacuzzi. She sucked lightly and then pulled away just the tiniest bit, so that her lips brushed against him with every word she spoke. Her eyes languidly swept up to hold his heated gaze. "Let me do this."

Her fingers wandered up the inside of his thighs as she took him into her mouth again and he groaned. She adeptly shielded her teeth from him as she went up and down, sometimes teasingly grazing him to coax a reaction out of him, her clouded eyes all the while locked with his. When she let one of her hands join in and work his shaft, pressing her flat tongue to his head, he gasped and his fingers automatically came up to thread through her hair.

Rick felt the coil inside him tighten and wanted to draw her away from him, but she pumped him faster and the bucking of his hips he had tried hard to suppress until now encouraged her only further, causing her to moan and hum around him as her eyes fluttered shut.

"Kate!" he grunted as she sucked hard, and then he finally, finally let go and released into her mouth.

She continued to milk him as he thrust into her, barely controlled, until she swallowed every last drop. A breathy, shaky moan was all he was capable of as Kate made her way up his body and out of the tub with sloppy, open-mouthed kisses. She pushed him backwards until she was out of the water, pushing herself forward so she was straddling him, her hands coming up to his neck as she kissed the last of sense out of him.

His hands wrapped around her slim waist, holding her tightly to him, his tongue invading her mouth, tasting salty remnants of himself and a sweetness that was uniquely hers. She shivered, goose bumps breaking out on her skin, not sure herself whether they were caused by his hands or by the cold air, now that the hot water from the tub was running down her body and evaporating.

Rick noticed it, always the observant writer, and pulled away. Guiding her gently from his lap, he helped her up on shaky legs and together they wrapped themselves into fluffy bathrobes. Kate pressed a soft kiss to his lips and they smiled at each other.

He loved that about her, too. She could do dirty, inappropriate things to him in a hot tub, ride him on the kitchen counter and kiss him into desperation, but one genuine smile from her still turned his world upside down. He hoped this would never change.

"I love you" Kate whispered, somehow sensing his suddenly sappy mood. He shook his head and framed her face with his large hands. He wasn't saying "No, you don't", but rather "I don't believe this is really happening". She understood him wordlessly, as always, and leaned up to kiss him again.

When she playfully nipped at his bottom lip, he groaned. Just like that, she could turn him from sentimental to aroused, as if there was a switch only she could flip. Her tongue flicked out to tease him and his hands slipped from her face down her neck straight into her robe, kneading her breasts as he walked her backwards until her back hit the sink. She gasped and their lips parted, his mouth immediately latching on to her neck as she breathed heavily into his ear.

Before she could even open her eyes, her bathrobe was pooling at her feet and she was being lifted onto the counter. His hands and mouth seemed to be everywhere at once, caressing, squeezing, licking, biting and sucking on her skin, sparking an all-consuming fire that made her choke on the humid air. Her own hands weren't idle either, first fisting in his hair, then pulling and tearing at his robe until it joined hers on the floor. The broad planes of his chest seemed to burn beneath her fingertips, the flexing of his muscles under her touch invigorating, empowering.

His hands threaded roughly through her wet hair when his feasting mouth returned to her lips. The sounds they were making seemed barely human and there was an urgency in their movements that Kate only remembered from earlier that day, when they had been joined at last after the longest 13 days of her life.

She clawed at his back and gripped his strong sides so tightly that she was sure there would be bruises afterwards, but he responded by moaning in pleasure into her mouth, so she only held on tighter.

Her hips arched into him, seeking friction, discovering that he was almost ready for her again. She trailed one hand down his taut stomach, but he snatched it midway, brought his other arm around her waist and pulled her from the counter. She gasped in surprise and then her knees almost buckled in anticipation when he gently, but determinedly turned her around and she understood what he was planning.

His lips and teeth met the back of her neck, his fingers brushing her wet mass of hair to one side for easier access, and she bit her lower lip so hard that she was pretty sure she broke the skin. She didn't care, because in her haze of lust she couldn't single out one sensation, it was all a jumbled onslaught of pleasurable pain and painful pleasure.

His tongue trailed down her spine and she moaned loudly, her knuckles white on the counter as she gripped hard to keep from falling. Her back arched and her butt rubbed against his groin, causing him to growl and bring his hands up to her breast to distract himself. He squeezed them and pressed her into the counter, knocking all breath out of her as her heated, wet center came into contact with the cold marble.

"Rick…"she whimpered and one of his hands skated over her ribcage and down to her stomach. "Please" she moaned as his fingers only teased her hipbone, and he bit into her shoulder so that she yelped in tremulous surprise.

"Open your eyes" he said, his voice gruff with need and passion. "Watch yourself."

And then he waited until her eyes shot open and met his in the mirror before he let his hand slide down and over her clit and right into her heat.

Her eyes flew to his hand in the mirror of their own volition and she watched herself tremble and grind back against him and into his palm until she came, so hard and powerful that her eyes squeezed closed.

He kept slowly stroking her and only slid his hand away when her eyelids fluttered open again. His wet fingers glided down her thigh, lifting her leg up and wrapping it around his, spreading her to his liking as she continued to shake and twitch in his arms.

Gently he pushed her upper body forward, bending her until her forearms were resting on the counter so she could balance herself.

Snaking his hand around to her clit once more, he slowly pushed into her from behind, both of them moaning and stopping for a second to adjust to the feeling.

When she pushed slightly back into him, he pulled away and started a rhythm of thrusts that soon bordered on frantic, his fingers rubbing tight circles around her clit. The exciting angle made him hit all the right spots inside her, while his hand could play with her freely and without restriction.

As their breaths became more shallow, Rick slowed down his speed and guided her leg back down to the ground, the change of position making her gasp and then push her hips back to meet every one of his thrusts. She didn't even notice his other hand slide up until he pinched her nipple, and the shock and surprise had her clenching around him.

His hips stuttered and he groaned that he was close, thrusting faster when he saw that she unfolded one of her arms from the counter and brought her hand down to meet his at her center. It only took a small touch and a hard push and they were both flying, screaming out their release. Kate sobbed his name as he emptied himself inside her, her muscles spasming around him as wave after delicious wave rolled through her body. They collapsed against the counter and focused on nothing but breathing for a while, their hearts pumping so fast that she could feel it throb in her ribcage.

Kate's eyes opened first and she released a breathy laugh - the condom was mocking them from its place on the edge of the Jacuzzi.


	20. Day 13: Us

**A/N:**_ 1) I'm sorry this took so long. The muses left me. I sincerely apologize._

_2) A couple of chapters ago, __Bigboss87__ commented "Kate is such a tease and Rick is so in love" and I thought that sentence pretty much summed up this entire story. Well, this chapter is a well-deserved role-reversal. If that makes any sense at all. You'll see._

_Anyway: Enjoy!_

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><p><strong>DAY 13: Us<strong>

They cleaned up quickly in the bathroom, but this time didn't bother with the robes and went, naked as they were, straight into their bedroom. In an unspoken agreement they collapsed next to each other, shared a last, slow kiss and passed out on the bed.

To take a two hour nap at three in the afternoon was not a rational, adult thing to do, but neither of them cared. This entire bet hadn't been rational, or adult, or even remotely smart.

When Kate woke up and found herself snuggled into his warm embrace, she had to admit that she'd done a lot of irrational and immature things since Rick Castle had come into her life. She didn't mind one bit where his "dumb ideas" had led her. He was her one and done, her always, her everything, and when he stirred next to her, she pressed her mouth to his shoulder and waited for him to wake up.

"Isitmornnyet?" he mumbled and she chuckled, pressing another kiss to his warm skin.

"No, it's almost 5pm. What is your stomach saying? Are we ordering in?" she asked as he pulled her on top of him and sweetly kissed her nose. He contemplated her question as he rubbed his hands up and down her sides.

"If we wanted to cook, we'd have to clean up the kitchen first…"

She grinned and gave him a peck. "That's a definite turn-off, isn't it?" Her foot slid up and down his calf. "So what is it going to be, Chinese or Italian?"

His eyes studied her curiously, his hands caressing the back of her thighs now. "Why do I get to choose?"

Her face lit up with a radiant smile. "Because I love you" she told him without hesitation and the smile spread onto his face as well.

"What did I do?" he wondered out loud and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly.

"Nothing" she answered, shaking her head lightly. "So much" she added and kissed him softly.  
>"I love you" she said again, just for the sake of saying it out loud and seeing his eyes respond and shine with emotion.<p>

"I love you, too" he said and they shared a moment and a smile that would put Hollywood movies to shame. "And I love Chinese" Rick added and their laugh was accompanied by an eye roll on Kate's part.

For the first time that day they dressed in actual clothes, albeit casual ones. Together they cleaned up the chocolate-y mess they had left in the kitchen while waiting for their Chinese to arrive. When the table was swiped free of the evidence of their passion, Kate wandered over to the entertainment system and looked through the Castles' large assortment of DVDs.

"Can we watch 'The Proposal'?" she called across the room as Rick opened a bottle of red wine.

"Do you want to watch it because Ryan Reynolds is naked in it, or are you trying to subtly drop a hint?" he answered with a question of his own and filled the first round bellied glass. Neither of them shied away from the topic of marriage, as Rick had already announced some months ago that he planned on making her his wife one day soon.

"What if I want to watch it because Sandra Bullock is in it?" she answered with a sly smile and he was still trying to come up with a fitting response when the doorbell rang.

Giving the shy young student a generous tip and an autograph for his mother, Rick accepted the loads of food and carried them into the loft.

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><p>When they were halfway into the movie, they were also halfway through the bottle of wine and on a legitimate food coma high from the incredibly good Chinese takeout. So when Sandra Bullock started to dance around the fire, singing "To the window, to the wall…", Rick got up to chant along, accompanied with dance moves that had Kate chucking a pillow at him from the couch and laughing so hard that her sides began to burn and her cheeks started to hurt.<p>

"Stop! St…haha God please sto-stop it!" she tried to press out and wiped at her teary eyes. Rick did stop then, but only to tackle her back onto the couch and press wet smacking kisses to every inch of her face.

"Rick!" Kate laughed and captured his lips with her own to get him to stop. They broke away out of breath and with rosy cheeks, each of them for several and different reasons.

They smiled at each other and Kate was once more grateful for the joy that this man brought to her life. He started to kiss her cheeks and neck again, but this time sweet and loving instead of wildly enthusiastic. He wasn't so much arousing as reassuring her, enjoying simply being with her, being able to do this as he pleased without fearing for his life or the wellbeing of his ear.

She sighed and snuggled deeper into his body, stretched out beneath him on the couch, his warmth seeping into her until she felt toasty and endlessly happy. When his random path across her skin brought him back to her mouth, she kissed him thoroughly and then turned in his grasp so that he was spooning her and she could face the TV again. Betty White was making fun of Sandra Bullock's lack of cleavage.

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><p>Just as the credits started rolling down the screen, a soft beep from Kate's phone announced a new text message.<p>

"_What's the status on the bet? Hope you made him lose. Want details! :P"_ showed up on her screen when she sat up and checked it. Kate smiled at Lanie's unlimited curiosity.

Nibbling on her lower lip, she typed _"Bet's over. Having best day of my life. Thank you! ;) Details later" _and hit send. Then she shut off the phone, something she hadn't done in a very long time, and put it out of her sight. When she noticed that Rick was watching her, she just shrugged her shoulders and grabbed her glass of wine.

"To us" she said and raised it in his direction. He took his own from the coffee table.

"To us" he repeated and clinked their glasses together.

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><p><strong>AN:** _Ummm…this could actually be the end of this story. I haven't decided yet, but this seems like a good place to stop._

_If this is indeed the last chapter, I want to thank you all for being the greatest readers an author could ever ask for! The Castle fandom is such an awesome, kind, fun and supportive group of people from all over the world and each and every one of you guys contributes to that wonderful experience! Thank you for reading, writing, reviewing, making gifs and manips, freaking out together over spoilers, bloopers, deleted scenes, sneak peaks, Stanathan, For Lovers Only and whatnot. You are awesome, all of you._

_I'm _alwaystoujourssiempre_ on tumblr and _MelBerlin_ on twitter, feel free to fangirl with me if you want to!_

_The Ignition sequel I have been promising since May will be called "Crossroads" and will be posted very, very soon. I know it's been a while but I would love to hear from some of you again ;)_

_Much love from Berlin,_

_Lina  
><em>


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